A New Era at the Disch

By Grabiel Silva

Reporting Texas

Over 21,000 fans packed UFCU Disch-Falk Field for Texas baseball’s weekend series against the No. 2 LSU Tigers.

After Texas moved to the SEC from the Big 12 last summer, the series against LSU marked the baseball team’s first SEC home series.

The SEC is full of great baseball teams, with 10 teams ranked in the top 25 and six in the top 10, including Texas, which was ranked No. 8 during the series. SEC baseball, however, is also known for its electric atmospheres and tailgates outside of the stadium. 

Fans across the conference are known for tailgating at baseball games and being extremely rowdy during the games. The energy at the parks in the conference are next level and this past weekend was Texas’ first chance to showcase that its fans are SEC-ready.

 “The atmosphere, the competition, the people – it’s just different,” said Wyndell Hamilton, whose son, Hudson, pitches for the Texas baseball team. “There’s just nothing like SEC baseball.” 

Outside of Disch-Falk Field, hundreds of fans tailgated for hours before the game. A crawfish boil served with tortellini seemed to be a fan favorite. 

All eyes were on the weekend series between LSU and Texas. Both teams have combined for 99 NCAA regional appearances, 57 College World Series appearances, and 13 national championships. Both schools have a long and successful history in college baseball and this past series carried extra weight now that they are conference foes. 

The energy at Disch-Falk Field has improved thanks in part to the success following the hiring of head coach Jim Schlossnagle. Schlossnagle was last at Texas A&M, where he led the Aggies to the College World Series Finals last year before leaving for Texas. 

After facing criticism in the offseason for his departure from Texas A&M, Schlossnagle and the Texas Baseball team have had an excellent start to the season. Right now the team is 20-3, its best start to a season since 2005, and had a 17-game winning streak – the program’s longest since 2010.

“These days there’s energy all around this place,” said 1987 Texas graduate Tim Ferony. “Sometimes the crowd does matter. We’re hoping it matters today, we’re hoping it matters this weekend and we’re hoping it matters through the rest of the SEC season.”

After the pregame festivities ended and fans started to walk into the stadium, the game got underway. 

Texas came back multiple times. The big moment in the game was when Texas was down 5-3 in the fifth inning and junior catcher Rylan Galvan launched a three-run home run over the Yeti Yard in left field to give Texas their first lead of the game 6-5. 

LSU quickly responded in the top of the 6th inning, to take a 7-6 lead. In the 7th inning, Jalin Flores hit a towering home run to left field to tie the game for the Longhorns and Texas scored a couple more runs in the 8th to win 11-7. 

“We keep the same approach each day, try to work counts, hit pitches that are in our zones, stay on the fastball and just do damage with what we can handle,” Texas shortstop Jalin Flores said after the game. 

The  crowd impressed some of the more experienced players on the team. 

“The crowd definitely willed me through that game, that was the loudest I’ve ever heard them,” said Texas pitcher Max Grubbs. “The crowd got me every ounce of juice that I needed, that was awesome.”

After taking two out of three games in the series against LSU, Texas now sits at 20-3 and sets their sights on the rest of the SEC schedule. This weekend the Longhorns are traveling to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers for a weekend series before returning home for five games, including a three-game series against the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.