No. 18/25 Baseball Preview: vs. Stanford [Feb. 20, 2014]

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No. 18/25 Texas (3-2) vs. Stanford (2-2)

Where: Austin, Texas (UFCU Disch-Falk Field • 6,756)
Times: 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/texas/baseball/
Television: Longhorn Network. Talent: Kevin Dunn (PbP) and Keith Moreland (Analyst)
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone, online at www.TexasSports.com/showcase. Talent: Craig Way (PbP) & Bill Little (Analyst) (Fri./Sun) / Roger Wallace (PbP) & Bill Little (Analyst) (Sat.)
All-Time Series: Texas trails, 27-31-1

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fr. RHP Cal Quantrill (0-1, 7.71) vs. Jr. RHP Parker French (0-1, 0.00)
Fr. RHP Brett Hanewich (0-0, 0.00) vs. Jr. LHP Dillon Peters (0-0, 0.00)
Fr. RHP Chris Viall (1-0, 5.40) Jr. RHP Lukas Schiraldi (1-0, 1.29)

QUICK HITS
· Texas has won three games in a row after dropping the first two of the season. The Longhorns have outscored the opponent 21-2 in the three wins.
· With a 5-0 win over Cal last Sunday and a 10-0 win over TAMU-CC on Tuesday, Texas recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2011 (2-0 vs. Texas State on 4/26/11, 5-0 over Oklahoma on 4/29/11). It also marks just the second time in the last 22 years UT recorded two shutouts in the season's first five games (also 2011).
· The Longhorns enter the weekend on an 18 1/3 scoreless inning streak. The last time Texas allowed a run was with two outs in the eighth inning of the 6-2 win over Cal last Saturday.
· Since allowing seven runs in the season opener, Texas has surrendered just four runs in the last four games.
· In 27 innings last weekend at Cal, Texas starting pitchers surrendered just one earned run. On Friday, Parker French went five innings and didn't allow an earned run; on Saturday Dillon Peters went seven without allowing one, and in the second game of the doubleheader Lukas Schiraldi allowed one earned run in seven innings which marked his debut with the Longhorns. Nathan Thornhill followed with eight shutout innings on Sunday.
· Mark Payton was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday after finishing the Cal series 9-for-17 with a double, triple, home run, three runs and four RBI.
· Payton leads the Big 12 with 11 hits and ranks fourth with a .524 (11-21) batting average. His .905 slugging percentage and two triples also lead the league.
· With 1,877 career victories, head coach Augie Garrido needs just 16 wins to tie Gordon Gillespie for the most wins (1,893) by any college baseball coach at any level. He is already the winningest coach in Division I history.
· C.J Hinojosa recorded the third three-RBI game of his career with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate Tuesday vs. TAMU-CC.
· Eight freshmen have seen action for Texas.
· Texas has used the same starters each game at all four infield spots and center field. The first three batting spots in the lineup (Marlow-Payton-Hinojosa), along with the fifth and sixth (McGuire-Montalbano) have also gone unchanged.
· After committing six errors in the first two games, Texas made just one in the last three games, turning a double play in each of those.
· Three pitchers with a combined 40 starts from last year return in 2014: Dillon Peters (14), Parker French (13) and Nathan Thornhill (13). The Longhorns return seven total pitchers from the 2013 staff which ranked seventh nationally in ERA (2.61).
· The 2013 UT recruiting class was ranked second nationally by Baseball America. Five players ranked in the Baseball America 500: right-handed pitcher Lukas Schiraldi (No. 162), third baseman Andy McGuire (No. 198), catcher Tres Barrera (No. 200), infielder Bret Boswell (No. 221) and right-handed pitcher Blake Goins (No. 256). The class is comprised of 12 freshmen and one junior-college transfer in Schiraldi.
· Five of the 13 incoming players were selected in the 2013 MLB Draft but chose to report to campus rather than sign professional contracts. Goins was selected in the 12th round, left-handed pitcher Josh Sawyer was taken in the 32nd round, Schiraldi and infielder/right-handed pitcher Kacy Clemens were picked in the 35th round, and McGuire was taken in the 36th round.
· Seniors Mark Payton (OF) and Nathan Thornhill (RHP) return to The Forty Acres after being selected in the MLB draft in the 16th and 24th rounds, respectively.
· Payton led the 2013 squad in nearly every hitting category including: batting average (.393), hits (70), doubles (11), triples (8), RBIs (29), total bases (97), slugging percentage (.545), walks (28), on-base percentage (.483), and sac bunts (7).
· Twenty-two players were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in the fall 2013 semester for earning a 3.0 grade-point-average or higher. Of Texas' incoming class of 13 student-athletes, 10 made the honor roll.
· Putting up Five: Texas was 17-2 last season when scoring five runs or more. The Horns are 3-0 this year when scoring five or more.

NOTES ON THE STARTING PITCHERS
• Friday night starter Parker French continues in the No. 1 starter role for the second straight year after going 4-5 with a 2.68 ERA in 2013. The Dripping Springs native has a 10-8 career record with a 2.66 ERA; he earned Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America and All-Big 12 honorable mention as a freshman in 2012. In his season debut at Cal last weekend, French went 5 innings and allowed six unearned runs on four hits while striking out four and walking three.
• As a sophomore last season, Dillon Peters led Texas with a 6-3 record and a 1.97 ERA en route to second team All-Big 12 honors. Peters pitched a team-high 86 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .223 batting average. The junior has a career 10-4 record with a 2.23 ERA.
• Lukas Schiraldi won his first career start for Texas last Saturday, going seven innings and allowing one run on five hits while striking out two and walking two. Schiraldi went 9-2 with a 2.84 ERA at Navarro College last season. Over the summer, he pitched in the Cape Cod League and won the PFC Whitehouse Outstanding Pitcher Award after going 5-1 with a 1.01 ERA.

WHO RETURNS - Nineteen letterwinners return (12 positional, seven pitchers) from last season's team, including seven positional starters and the aforementioned starting pitching rotation.
• In addition to Parker French, Dillon Peters and Nathan Thornhill, pitchers returning are LHP Ty Culbreth (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 2/3 IP), LHP Travis Duke (4-1, 2.53 ERA, 35 1/3 IP), RHP Ty Marlow (1-2, 2.16 ERA, 33 1/3 IP) and RHP Chad Hollingsworth (3-1, 3.72 ERA, 29 IP). Though neither pitched last season due to injury, RHP John Curtiss and RHP Justin Peters also return.
• On offense, CF Mark Payton (.393 average in 2013) and SS C.J Hinojosa (.309) headline the list of returnees. Also returning are C Jacob Felts, 2B Brooks Marlow, OF Weston Hall, OF Taylor Stell and C/DH Jeremy Montalbano.

GONE TO THE PROS - Texas will have to replace a pair of valuable contributors who left after their junior years to go pro. INF Erich Weiss hit .299 last year and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization after being drafted in the 11th round. Closer Corey Knebel had 37 saves in his three years at UT and was a supplemental first round pick of the Detroit Tigers.

SERIES RECORD - Texas trails the all-time series with Stanford, 27-31-1. The Cardinal has won six in a row, sweeping the last two series in 2012 and 2013, both of which were in Palo Alto. Prior to the current streak, Texas had won six of the last seven. The Longhorns are 15-12-1 vs. Stanford at home. In his career, head coach Augie Garrido has a 43-46-1 record vs. Stanford, including a 24-28-1 mark at UT.

INNINGS RETURNING - Texas not only ranked seventh nationally in ERA in 2013, the Longhorns also return 89 percent of their innings pitched. Among the top 10 teams in ERA from a season ago, that ranks first. In terms of total innings pitched returning, it ranks third behind a pair of preseason top 5 teams: Cal State Fullerton (478 2/3) and Indiana (468 2/3).

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY - Senior center fielder Mark Payton is back for his senior season after starting 167 games in his first three years at UT. Payton led the Big 12 and ranked 12th nationally with a .393 batting average last year, the highest mark by a Longhorn since Dustin Majewski hit .401 in 2002. He's one of just two Longhorns to hit .390 or better in a season in the last 25 years (also Majewski). Payton became the first Longhorn to win the Big 12 batting title since Seth Johnston in 2005 (.378).
• Payton has been a model of consistency for UT, having reached base in 102 of 107 games over the last two-plus years (5-5 in 2014, 47-50 in 2013, 50-52 in 2012). Dating back to last year, he is on a 44-game streak of having reached base safely and a 14-game hitting streak. Last year he led the team with 20 multiple hit games and has achieved that feat in all five games this year.

TWO-OUT HITTING - Mark Payton has been at the top of his game when coming to bat with two outs. The senior is 4-for-7 on the season and has started a pair of key two-out rallies: his two-out single in the fifth inning of game three at Cal led to a two-run inning in a game that UT won 6-2; and his two-out single in the fifth inning against TAMU-CC led to a five-run inning.
• Andy McGuire (2-for-5), Jeremy Montalbano (2-for-5) and C.J Hinojosa (3-for-7) have also provided key two-out hits.

A LOOK AT THE STAFF - Head coach Augie Garrido enters his 18th season at Texas and 46th overall with a career record of 1,876-871-9. He is assisted by Skip Johnson (eighth season at Texas), Tommy Nicholson (fourth season at Texas) and Ryan Russ (third season at Texas). Johnson has led UT to top-10 national finishes in ERA in five of his seven seasons on the Forty Acres. Nicholson, a volunteer assistant in 2009 and 2010, returned to the staff as an assistant coach prior to last season. He coaches the infielders and hitters and helped the Longhorns lead the Big 12 in fielding percentage last season. Russ, in his third season as volunteer assistant, coaches the outfielders and helps coach the hitters.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS - The Texas baseball team has a long history of academic success.
• Since 2006, over 30 Texas Baseball student-athletes have returned to campus to earn their degrees.
• The program has posted a perfect score of 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) from 2007-11 and has received APR Public Recognition Awards four times for having multiyear Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent in their sport (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12).
• The team earned the College World Series Award for the team with the highest GPA in 2009 and 2011.
• The team has had six consecutive semesters of a GPA of 3.0 or better and currently holds a 3.2 GPA. Over 70% of students on the team holds a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

HONORING JAMES STREET - Texas will honor the late James Street, who passed away in September of 2013, throughout the season by wearing a "JS" decal on their hats and helmets. A two-sport star, Street helped lead UT to three consecutive College World Series appearances and posted a career record of 29-8. Street ranks sixth in UT history with 21 complete games and ninth with a career 1.86 ERA and 302 strikeouts. He threw a perfect game in 1970 (vs. Texas Tech) and a no-hitter in 1969 (vs. SMU). Street was a two-time second-team All-America selection and a three-time All-SWC choice. On the football field, Street was a perfect 20-0 as a starting quarterback from 1968-69 and helped lead UT to the 1969 National Championship. The Longhorns posted a perfect 11-0 record (7-0 in the Southwest Conference) and capped off their second national title with a 21-17 victory against No. 9 Notre Dame in the 1970 Cotton Bowl. Street earned consensus All-SWC honors that season.

TEAM 120 - The Texas baseball team is in its 120th season all-time. Throughout the year, former teams, players and moments will be recognized during games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, online at TexasSports.com and on Twitter @Texas_Baseball.

TOP PROSPECTS - Texas had eight total players appear in Baseball America's preseason Top 50 prospects rankings for each class.
Freshmen: Andy McGuire No. 13, Tres Barrera No. 33, Blake Goins No. 50.
Sophomore: C.J Hinojosa No. 31.
Juniors: Dillon Peters No. 30, Parker French No. 46.
Seniors: Mark Payton No. 6, Nathan Thornhill No. 17.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

No. 18/25 Baseball Preview: vs. Stanford [Feb. 20, 2014]

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