COLLEGE STATION — As a fly ball off the bat of Rylan Galvan was caught in the left field grass at Blue Bell Park on Sunday, the 2024 baseball season for Texas came to a close.

That flyout closed out a 10-2 loss to Louisiana in the losers' bracket of the College Station Regional and eliminated Texas from the NCAA Tournament. Texas ends its season with a 36-24 record. The Longhorns were attempting to reach a super regional for a fourth straight season.

Playing 14 hours after a heartbreaking loss against Texas A&M that was decided in extra innings, Texas allowed Louisiana (42-19) to score all of its runs with two outs. A seven-run eighth inning was the deciding factor in a game that saw UT strand 14 runners on base.

"Tough day, tough day, but that's how the game went," Texas coach David Pierce said.

There will still be college baseball played throughout the month of June, but the focus at Texas can now shift to the future. After calling the Big 12 its home since 1997, Texas will officially join the Southeastern Conference later this summer.

In a postgame press conference Sunday, Pierce said he hasn't thought too much yet about life in the SEC or the 2025 season. He had been too busy with trying to find ways to win in 2024.

Pierce did tell reporters that he won't turn his roster over this offseason. He does know that Texas needs to improve its team speed. The pitching must also get better.

"We really haven't gone there. At least I haven't," Pierce said. "I'm just too busy day-to-day to start thinking about what's going to have to happen after our season. It just takes too much work to jump ahead there."

Pierce has two years left on a contract extension that he signed in 2021, and speculation about his job security has been a topic of discussion this season. When asked by the American-Statesman about the future of the Texas baseball program and if he expects to return next season, Pierce responded "that's an interesting question." He then gave a lengthy answer.

"The future of this program is going to be in great hands and it's going to be in a good spot," Pierce said. "We have so many young players. We've got a coaching staff that's very capable of pushing guys and creating the standards that we want and doing it the right way with character and integrity. We'll continue to do that.

"And as long as the University of Texas gives me the opportunity, they'll get everything that I have. One of the things that I was asked at the end up today through radio is how do you process everything right now? I can't do that. We started this thing in September. The ups and downs and the development and the growth of players not only as baseball players, but as young men. That's a big piece of my job.

"We're judged 100% on a win and a loss, but you've got to get into the ingredients of this team and the ingredients of this program to understand how good it is. That's from our support staff throughout our players. The question of will I return? That's not in my hands. I know how well that our team plays and I know how well that our staff has worked. I've been doing this a long time and we've had a ton of success. So I'll just leave it at that."

With junior pitcher Ace Whitehead seated to his left, Pierce later stated, "I do feel like we have some great pieces that will return (in 2025)." The Texas roster, though, will look different whenever the Longhorns play next. The MLB draft is set to take place next month. The transfer portal will add and subtract talent from the Texas roster. Nine Longhorns participated in UT's Senior Day activities last month, but a new crop of freshmen will soon arrive on campus.

After wrapping up his breakout season with a seven-hit, 6⅔-inning effort on the mound, Whitehead said he thinks that Texas will be able to compete in the SEC next season. "I think we're as good a spot as anyone," he opined.

"I see the work that the guys put in each and every day and I think that I can say with confidence I think we outwork everyone in the country," Whitehead said. "We're the University of Texas and we're always going to have talented players. Our coaches, they work harder than anyone I know.

"I think that moving forward it's going to be a challenge in the SEC. We know that, but that's something that we look forward to."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas baseball season ends with NCAA tournament loss to Louisiana