After a 4-1 week, including a weekend series win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Austin, the Texas Longhorns baseball team remains No. 4 in the newest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Texas beat Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, 14-7 on Tuesday. UT overcame a pair of five-run deficits, rallying behind Carson Tiiney’s career-high five RBI game.
On Friday against the Tide, Tiiney’s homer in the first inning set the tone offensively for the Longhorns, who pounded out 10 runs. New permanent Friday starter Dylan Volantis did the rest. The 6-foot-6 lefty became the first Longhorn to notch a dozen strike outs in an SEC game. Volantis retired 15 of the first 18 batters he faced in the 10-3 win.
Saturday, Texas won a 3-1 pitchers dual. UT right-hander Ruger Riojas had 11 strikeouts and gave up just three hits in five innings. The Horns had 19 strikeouts overall. Texas tied the most punchouts in a nine-inning game in program history, matching its performance against Southwest Louisiana on March 18, 1988. Alabama starter Zane Adams tossed six shutdown frames of his own to hold up his end of the pitchers’ duel.
Sunday saw another pitchers dual, with Bama coming out on top 2-1. Alabama pitchers Myles Upchurch and Ashton Crowther limited the Longhorns to one run on four hits and scoreless through the first eight innings. In the ninth, UT’s Ethan Mendoza singled to score a run, but Crowther slammed the door to salvage the weekend finale for the Tide.
UCLA remains No. 1 in the ranking, a spot the Bruins have held onto since March 3rd. North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Georgia make up the rest of the top five. There are 10 SEC teams in the Top 25.
USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll
Week 10 results: Published April 20, 2026
Others Receiving Votes
Jacksonville State 33; Wake Forest 8; UC Santa Barbara 7; Miami (FL) 6; Liberty 6; UCF 3; North Carolina State 3; Missouri State 3; UTSA 1; Purdue 1;
List Of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports board of coaches is made up of 30 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. The board for the 2026 season: Mik Aoki, Richmond; Blake Beemer, Butler; Andrew Checketts, UC-Santa Barbara; Jim Chester, Gardner-Webb; Reggie Christiansen, Sacramento State; Ryan Coe, Kennesaw State; Terry Davis, Western Illinois; Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb; Craig Gibson, Mercer; Justin Haire, Ohio State; Brian Hamm, Yale; Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State; Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State; Randy Hood, UNC Wilmington; Todd Interdonato, Boston College; Omar Johnson, Jackson State; Ed Kahovec, Holy Cross; Ryan Klosterman, Bryant; Geoff Loomis, Portland; Scott Malone, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Matt Mazurek, Canisius; John McCormack, Florida Atlantic; Evan Porter, Nebraska-Omaha; Sherman Reed, Coppin State; Jake Sabol, Central Michigan; Kevin Schnall, Coastal Carolina; Dan Skirka, Murray State; Alex Sogard, Wright State; Stan Stolte, UNLV; Butch Thompson, Auburn.
Helpful Info
*The highest and lowest ranking each team has held during the designated season. Any team that starts the season unranked and/or falls out of the top 25 during the season will reflect a “NR” (not ranked) designation as its lowest rank.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas Longhorns baseball steady at No. 4 in new USA TODAY Coaches Poll
Reporting by Trey Luerssen, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
