Jim Schlossnagle took notice when Paul Skenes, the Cy Young Award winner, was knocked out of his Opening Day start after recording just two outs and surrendering five runs. Schlossnagle figured if Skenes, who began his MLB career by posting an ERA below 2.00 in both 2024 and 2025, could fail so dramatically, the same is likely to happen to others.
Before Thursday's game against South Carolina, Ruger Riojas was pitching exceptionally well. He'd allowed seven runs in seven starts, and pitched seven shutout frames against Oklahoma in his last outing.
Against South Carolina, a team that ranked at the bottom of the SEC in runs, batting average and OPS, Riojas struggled.