Texas traveled to Knoxville this weekend to face the unranked Tennessee Volunteers with the hope of boosting its postseason resume in the penultimate SEC series of the regular season. Instead, the Longhorns lost the series and lost ground in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
The Horns fell from No. 4 (where they’ve been for over a month) to No. 5 in the latest weekly ranking. The Georgia Bulldogs jumped Texas into the fourth spot.
The problems started Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, when Longhorns ace pitcher Dylan Volantis was touched up for three runs in the first two innings. Volantis has only allowed three or more runs once this season, to Oklahoma in March. The Horns would go on to drop the opener to the Vols 5-1.
Saturday was a back and fourth slugfest that went Tennessee’s way, 14-9. The Horns jumped out to an early first inning 3-0 lead, but the Vols scored runs off Texas pitching in every single inning.
Casey Borba’s multi-homer game led Texas in the final game of the series, topping Tennessee 13-6. Texas launched four homers in the game, highlighted by Borba’s two homers and six RBI. The junior hit a solo shot in the first inning two pitches after Adrian Rodriquez’s three-run home run. In the sixth, Borba launched his second career grand slam.
With the victory, the Longhorns (37-12, 16-10 SEC) became the first-ever college baseball program to reach 1,500 conference wins.
The Horns have one more series in the regular season. Texas will host the Missouri Tigers this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll
Week 13 results: Published May 11, 2026
Schools Dropped Out
No. 21 Oklahoma; No. 25 Virginia;
Others Receiving Votes
Oklahoma 45; Cincinnati 41; Wake Forest 16; Tennessee 10; UC Santa Barbara 9; Virginia 8; Mercer 7; California Baptist 6; Miami (FL) 5; Missouri State 4; Kent State 3; UTSA 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 %SEASON% 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: How far did Texas baseball fall in Coaches Poll after losing to Vols?
Reporting by Trey Luerssen, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
