We'll be previewing Texas baseball in three parts. The first part was a chat with Baseball America, the second is a preview of Texas baseball's position players and the third will take a look at the pitchers.

When it comes time to write next year's Texas baseball preview, here's what we're going to write: Augie Garrido will field a ballclub with both elite pitching and very good defense, but the fate of the Horns this year will be decided by their ability to establish just a mediocre offense. We know this because this has been the story of Texas baseball since the Horns won a title in 2002 behind freshman closer Huston Street's arm and Omar Quintanilla's glove.

With the exception of 2006-2008 (when Texas had the benefit of Kyle Russell breaking the Texas HR record and piss-poor pitching on the mound) Texas baseball's offense has revolved around the concept of Augieball: the principle that Texas will win games in the cavernous Disch-Falk Field by being very strong on the mound and in the field while using smallball to put immense pressure on less talented defensive squads. If Texas can manufacture a few runs a game, the strategy goes, then Texas will win a whole lot of games on the strength of just its arms and gloves. Augieball draws is detractors from lots of critics who have read how the concept of Moneyball fits in the Major League game, but no criticism ever fully accounts for Garrido's six CWS appearances and two national titles at Texas.

Texas will need Augieball to be at its best this year much like every year of the past decade only moreso. The Horns won six games in the 2011 postseason and scored five, four, nine, five, five and four runs in those wins. As a matter of fact, Texas would've lost just 10 games last season if they had scored five runs each game. And considering how good the Texas pitchers are expected to be again in 2012, getting to five runs a contest is a worthy goal that will produce a whole lot of wins if achieved.

Before looking at the specifics of the Texas roster for 2012, it's worth noting that Texas failed to score and recorded just four hits in January 28th's Alumni Game. The pessimist just reads that box score while the optimist points out that the Horns faced Roger Clemens, Huston Street, James Russell and Chance Ruffin, all of whom have pitched in the Majors. But hey, at least Texas's defense didn't have any errors. Things are looking up!

After the jump a look at the guys who will be looking to spark the scoreboard.

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The last few years we have kicked off our Texas baseball coverage with a multi-part preview featuring looks at the offense, defense and big picture items facing the Longhorns in the year to come. A more detailed breakdown of the Horns will be forthcoming before the first pitch against Duke. But as we gear up our countdown to the start of the 2012 college baseball season, we thought it'd be fun to chat Texas and the Big 12 with one of the finest collegiate baseball writers around, Baseball America's Aaron Fitt.

Many thanks to Aaron. Be sure to check out his weekly Monday chats and much more at Baseball America once the season gets going.

40AS: What are your general thoughts on Texas in 2012? Will they be improved offensively? Can they overcome the loss of (2011 ace) Taylor Jungmann?

Aaron Fitt: I think they can overcome the loss of Jungmann, to answer your last question first. If you talk to the coaching staff, I think they believe this pitching staff has a chance to be as good as or better than the staff that they’ve had over the last three years, and that’s saying something given the talent that’s passed through. They’re going to miss Jungmann for sure, he’s a world class ace, and there’s some question of whether Stafford can play at that level. Stafford is a very talented player and he’s a senior so he’s experienced. He's a left hander, has good stuff and certainly gives them a chance to have a quality ace at the top of the rotation.

Then you’ve got Hoby Milner, another left handed guy who can really pitch. Milner has an advanced feel for pitching. Mixes three pitches well. He's a really nice guy to have. Austin Dicharry could be a Sunday guy. You can remember how good he was his freshman year, and he seems to have put himself together this summer. (40AS note: Dicharry was 2-0 over the summer with a 2.38 ERA in 4 starts for the Santa Barbara Foresters)

Texas has brought together an incredible group of freshman pitchers and amazingly they may not need any of them to start in the weekend rotation right away because they’re really deep. The pitching staff is the strength, it's going to carry them.

Offensively, losing Bell was a tough loss and so was (losing) CJ Hinojosa. The key for Texas is how Christian Summers does at shortstop. It's the most important position in the diamond, other than maybe catch, and Texas had a guy in Brandon Loy that they never had to worry about. Loy meant a lot from a leadership perspective, from a table-setting perspective and from a defensive perspective. Summers has a lot of defensive ability but needs to prove he can consistently do the job. (40AS note: Hinojosa, a high school senior had planned to enroll at Texas this spring and could have been a starting infielder from day one. He will now finish high school and could be a very high draft pick in 2012, potentially permanently derailing his time in burnt orange)

I think this can be a competent offensive team. I don’t expect that they’ll be explosive but this program is never constructed that way, they always win with pitching and defense.

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Lost somewhat among the NBA's ugly ongoing lockout and the NFL's lockout causing heartburn last summer, Major League Baseball on Tuesday agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement ensuring at least two full decades of labor peace. Most notably, the new CBA makes major changes to how amateur players become professionals mainly by strictly controlling how much money a team can offer its draft picks. A good description of exactly how the draft will be effected is available here, but sufficient to say that fairly prohibitive penalties have been established to prevent teams from spending above what the MLB's slot suggestions. The days of Stephen Strasburg drawing a $15 million signing bonus out of college are gone.

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Texas baseball is a man down today, as Augie Garrido dismissed Jordan Etier from the ballclub after his arrest on dual charges: marijuana possession and evading arrest, according to the Statesman. While Etier was never much of a hitter, he was so good defensively on the infield that it was always difficult for Augie to keep him out of the lineup.

We're certainly not the types to sit in judgment of a kid who has made a mistake. You do have to wonder whether the pot charge would have been enough to get him dismissed rather than a simple suspension, but once you add that evading arrest charge we imagine Augie felt he had no choice. Once again, the old adage about cover-ups being worse than the underlying crimes may have held true here. That is, of course, pure speculation. But, unlike certain media members, at least we're happy to acknowledge it when we engage in such factless rumor mongering. (Just saying)

In any event, the timing of this could hardly have been worse for Etier and the team. His arrest came on the eve of Texas' fall practice game schedule beginning, and a distraction like this can't be good for preseason development. Hopefully Garrido and the coaches can keep the team focused on the important ABs and innings as they prepare to make yet another run at Omaha. Sadly, it looks like that run will have to be without their teammate Etier.

Augie Garrido's bunch begin the first of four Fall baseball games today at 1 PM against Houston, available on the Longhorn Network (!). Last season ended with Texas pitching falling apart in Omaha without any support from a despondent offense. The Horns have lost starting pitchers Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green for this year but return starters Sam Stafford and Hoby Milner as well as phenom closer Corey Knebel. A year ago the Texas bats fell silent in Fall Ball, foreshadowing an ongoing storyline that would never leave. The Horns should be better offensively in 2012, but just how much better and whether the offensive improvement can be matched by a continued elite level of pitching (as the Horns had in 2011) will be the year's big question.

If you like an offensively challenged but solid defensive squad filled with youngsters looking to improve then Texas baseball in 2012 may just be the team for you. Far more of a preview in the months ahead but some names to look for and an open thread for anyone preferring college baseball over the NFL after the jump.

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The summer has come and gone and we're just a few days from the deadline (midnight on August 15th) for high school seniors and college juniors to avoid college in the fall. There's been very little hard news on most of the Longhorns players and signees because, well, the negotiating rarely begins until the final week. Josh Bell remains the lynch pin for the 2012 class and season. If he comes to Texas, everything else that happens is lagniappe. If he doesn't, it'll take Jungmann and/or Stafford coming back to salvage some pre-preseason optimism. A quick look at who has signed and what's being reported about the rest after the jump.

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The Texas Longhorns exit Omaha after two games having managed just four hits against North Carolina on Tuesday. The loss ends the Texas season and likely the careers of Taylor Jungmann, Brandon Loy, Cole Green and Tant Shepherd. Considering the talent lost a year ago, even getting to Omaha is an accomplishment for Texas baseball. We're certainly disappointed in the result, but proud of the effort from the boys in burnt orange.

A thorough season review later on. For now this can be your commiseration thread. 74 days until football starts!

Texas plays its tenth elimination game of the postseason today (including the conference tournament), and the opponent is the North Carolina Tar Heels. Both squads succumbed to SEC powerhouses in their first games Saturday, and one of them will be the first team sent home from Omaha this year. Being eternal optimists, we feel like Texas will survive to play another day behind Cole Green--but it certainly won't be easy.

For those of you who are able to watch, we working masses kindly request game updates in the comments so that we may follow along on the BON. First pitch is at 1 PM CDT and TV is on ESPN and ESPN3.com. Hook 'em!