No. 4 Texas hosts No. 11 Alabama in another big SEC series

The .268 team batting average for the Tide ranks 14th in the conference because Alabama is No. 12 in the SEC in strikeouts, although the on-base percentage of .399 is more middle of the pack in the nation’s best baseball league. Catcher Brady Neal leads the team with a .379 batting average and 37 RBI, but is only one of two regulars for Alabama hitting better than .300, joining center fielder Bryce Fowler at .329. Shortstop Justin Lebron paces the Crimson Tide with 12 home runs.

Texas is switching up its weekend rotation with sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis (4-0, 2.01 ERA) receiving the nod on Friday because Sunday’s cancellation in College Station kept Volantis from making his scheduled start last weekend.

“I don’t want Dylan sitting for two weeks,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said on Tuesday.

That pushes senior right-hander Ruger Riojas (5-1, 3.40 ERA) to Saturday as he tries to recover from back-to-back poor outings in allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings against South Carolina and five runs on five hits in 5.0 innings against Texas A&M, both series-opening losses for Texas.

On Sunday, redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison (4-1, 4.33 ERA) embarks on his own bounce-back effort from the worst start of his career against the Aggies last Saturday in which he couldn’t get out of the first inning. When the game went into a rain delay, Harrison was already struggling, having allowed two singles, a walk, and a two-run double while recording only one out. After waiting more than an hour and a half for the game to resume, Harrison got squeezed on a full-count walk and struck out the next batter before giving up a two-run double, a walk, a three-run triple, and an RBI double before departing the game.

The pitching staff could receive a boost if sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez is able to make his return from a recent hand procedure.

“It’s a better chance that he will play than he won’t play,” Schlossnagle said on Thursday.

The question is which version of Rodriguez the Longhorns will get.

“I would think we get a better version of what he was before he had the staples taken out. Ideally, before the season ends, it’d be awesome just to have the real A-Rod with the extra-base hits and the homers and the super dynamic offensive player that he is, but we may not get that this year, that may have to be next year,” Schlossnagle said. “I just know he’s capable of helping our team — he’s the spirit of our team, he’s the energy of our team, and that’s not an excuse for any loss, but we missed that.”

The player who is heating up for the Longhorns is junior catcher Carson Tinney, who has hit six of his 13 home runs over the last six games, a power surge enabled by Tinney translating his work in practice to the game and using the whole field to hit, raising his batting average from .284 to .325 over that stretch. When opposing pitchers have been careful throwing strikes to Tinney, he’s taken his walks with seven in three games, and has only struck out three times in 21 at bats.

The weekend festivities start on Friday with what was originally called “Texas-size fan experience” — the Longhorn Band will be in attendance and a drone show was scheduled for five minutes after the game, but forecast wind conditions forced the postponement of the drone show. Happy hour pricing will still last through the national anthem and, in the outfield, the YETI Yard is reserved for students on Friday as the Built Ford Tough Tailgate hosts UT Student Spirit Group Appreciation Night. Both spaces open to the public again on Saturday.

First pitch on Friday is at 6:30 p.m. Central, followed by a 2 p.m. Central start time on Saturday, and a 1 p.m. Central series finale. All three games air on SEC Network+.