Jeff Howe

Spencer in the first: 11 pitches, nine of them for strikes

He can run it up to 98.

Make it back-to-back strikeouts for Spencer to end the bottom of the first. End of 1: Texas 0, Louisville 0

Spencer with a couple of nasty sliders to retire Klein on strikes.

Alicea advances to second on a flyout to right. Not a lot of urgency from Farmer to get the ball back to the infield.

Spencer hits Alicea on the leg with an 0-2 offering. I want to see this staff execute with two strikes. That wasn't what I had in mind.

Jalin Flores sees six pitches and strikes out. Forbes retires the Longhorns in order in the first. M1: Texas 0, Louisville 0

A 5-pitch at-bat for Adrian Rodriguez ends with a strikeout. Two away.

Kimble Schuessler leads off the season by lining out to short. One down in the top of the first.

Texas is the designated road team for this one. The Longhorns will be wearing their road grays tonight.

The game is on FloSports. I'll be listening to the radio call.

The 2025 baseball season will begin roughly an hour from now at Globe Life Field in Arlington when No. 19 Texas takes on Louisville in the Shriners Children's College Showdown. Texas will face Ole Miss tomorrow and Oklahoma State on Sunday. Tonight's pitching matchup: Texas LHP Jared Spencer (6-0, 4.08) vs. Louisville RHP Patrick Forbes (0-1, 3.72)

Texas is going with Jared Spencer against Louisville tonight and Luke Harrison against Ole Miss on Saturday. The starter for Sunday’s game against Oklahoma State is TBD.

Only O’Hara and Zaharias are gone from the roster on the first day of practice.

I think that'll depend on two things: 1. How the offensive line comes together. 2. Arch's comfort with the RPO game to make the threat of him pulling the ball in and running it less predictable. I see Sark controlling it as much as he can. Arch's ability to extend plays with his legs and break off explosive plays on scrambles is something out of his control, so I can see Sark being measured with how he uses Arch on designed runs.

Everything was on schedule at last check.

That's... Something.

I'm excited about what Wingo can do with more touches. I don't want to oversell the quarterback runs with Arch, but the scrambling ability he brings to the table can be a real weapon for Texas. It could provide a huge boost early in the season, with the offensive line needing time to come together.

No matter how you slice it, Texas had one of the most explosive offenses in the country in 2024. Steve Sarkisian’s attack finished among college football’s top 35 offenses last season in yards per play (6.21). No offense generated more plays of 20 yards or more than the Longhorns, leading FBS with 108 while finishing No. 3 in the country in 20-yard gains per game (6.75), trailing only Miami (7.62) and Ole Miss (7.39). While the offense’s average yards per play declined from 2023 (6.67), Texas generated more than an additional 20-yard gain per game en route to a 13-3 record compared to the previous season (5.57 20-yard gains per game). A veteran quarterback and an experienced offensive line made the conditions ripe for the Longhorns to torch defenses, but that’s only part of the equation. Sarkisian’s offense is designed so that the ball finds different guys at different times. That team-first mentality accounts for the other half of the formula that kept Texas chugging along after losing its top five producers of 20-yard gains from one season to the next with Jonathon Brooks (14), Xavier Worthy (14), Ja’Tavion Sanders (12), Adonai Mitchell (11) and Jordan Whittington (9) counting among the school-record 11 selections in the 2024 NFL Draft. Based on the offense’s leaderboard for 20-yard gains in 2024, the Longhorns must replace their four most explosive players: Matthew Golden (22), Gunnar Helm (15), Jaydon Blue (12) and Isaiah Bond. It’s a daunting task, but the returns of DeAndre Moore Jr., Ryan Wingo and Quintrevion Wisner (10 plays from scrimmage of at least 20 yards) cushion the blow, especially when looking at everybody’s production per touch. Golden led the Texas offense by recording a 20-yard gain once every 2.64 touches. The next most explosive Longhorn on a per-touch basis was Wingo, who ripped off 20 yards or more from scrimmage on one out of every 3.4 touches. Bond (a 20-yard gain once every 3.45 touches), Moore (3.9), Helm (4), Arch Manning (8.33), Blue (14.67) and Wisner (27) rounded out the explosive play production. The scrambling ability of Manning, who had three runs of 20 yards or more on just 25 official attempts, and the potential he’s flashed on designed runs bring an explosive element by way of the quarterback running game in a style not seen on the Forty Acres since Colt McCoy. Three of Wingo’s 20-yard gains came on the ground. Until Blue’s 77-yard touchdown secured a first-round College Football Playoff win over Clemson, Manning and Wingo had a hand in the offense’s four longest plays from scrimmage: a 75-yard Manning-to-Wingo touchdown pass and Manning’s 67-yard touchdown run against UTSA; a 56-yard pass from Manning to Bond against ULM; and Wingo’s 55-yard run against Michigan. With Wingo, Moore and Wisner back, Manning taking over behind center and C.J. Baxter returning from injury, the Texas offense has plenty of big-play potential. Sarkisian's creation of advantageous situations for the playmakers who must touch the football and those players coming through when called upon will go a long way toward determining whether or not the Longhorns are in the national championship mix again in 2025. View full news story

Belyeu’s health is why Schloss isn’t announcing a lineup today. He’s also not ready to announce his rotation for this weekend.

The Texas outfielder has been “off and on sick” recently, according to Jim Schlossnagle. Belyeu was cleared for full activities yesterday, but Schloss said he’s unsure right now what Belyeu’s availability will be for this weekend’s three games at Globe Life Field to open the 2025 season.

Yes, Santos already left. I’ll check my initial roster when I get to my car. I’m at Disch-Falk right now for team media day.

Honestly, I wasn't in the group who thought he had a chance to be the guy until I watched him compete his tail off at the state basketball tournament. Colt was a better natural athlete than he was credited for being.