The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
No. 15/24 Baseball Preview: at Houston College Classic [Feb. 28-March 2, 2014]
02.27.2014 | Baseball
Texas takes on Rice, Houston and Sam Houston State
No. 15/24 Texas (6-3) at Houston College Classic • February 28 - March 2
Where: Houston, Texas (Minute Maid Park • 40,950)
Opponents/Times
Friday vs. Rice: 7:35 p.m.
Saturday vs. Houston: 3:35 p.m.
Sunday vs. Sam Houston State: 10:05 a.m.
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, Roger Wallace and Bill Little
All-Time Series: Texas leads the series with Rice, 220-53-2; with Houston, 91-31-2; and with Sam Houston State, 72-18.
Probable Starting Pitchers
vs. Rice: Jr. RHP Jordan Stephens (2-0, 3.00) vs. Jr. LHP Dillon Peters (0-0, 1.29)
vs. Houston: So. RHP Jake Lemoine (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jr. RHP Parker French (1-1, 0.82)
vs. Sam Houston State: So. RHP Dirk Masters (0-0, 0.90) vs. Jr. RHP Lukas Schiraldi (1-1, 6.00)
QUICK HITS
· Texas has won six of its last seven games after taking two out of three from Stanford last weekend (Feb. 21-23) and defeating UTPA, 2-1, in 11 innings on Tuesday.
· This weekend marks Texas' eighth appearance in the Houston College Classic. The Longhorns have a 10-11 record in the event. Since 2002, Texas has participated in the Classic every other year; in its last appearance in 2012, Texas defeated Rice and fell to Tennessee and Arkansas.
· Texas is averaging 4.7 runs per game this season, after averaging 3.8 in 2013.
· The Longhorns' last two wins have come via a walk-off; a wild pitch scored Collin Shaw to beat Stanford 4-3 (Feb. 22), and a Jacob Felts single in the 11th scored Alex Silver to give the Horns the win against UTPA (Feb. 25).
· Senior centerfielder Mark Payton leads the Big 12 in hits (20), batting average (.577), triples (3), total bases (30), on-base percentage (.643), and slugging percentage (.857).
· Payton has reached base safely in 48 consecutive games and has an 18-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
· After making five errors in the opening game of the season, the Longhorn defense has committed just two in the last eight games, good for a .994 fielding percentage over that span. Texas has played error-free baseball the last four games.
· Texas has turned 10 double plays this season, tied for the most in the Big 12 (also Baylor).
· The Horns pitching staff currently owns a 2.51 ERA which ranks third in the Big 12. Discounting the 11-5 loss to Stanford, Texas has a 1.39 ERA in its other eight games.
· With 1,880 career victories, head coach Augie Garrido needs just 13 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.· 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.
· 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.
· Texas was 17-2 last season when scoring five runs or more. The Horns are 4-1 this year when scoring five or more.
NOTES ON THE STARTING PITCHERS
· Junior southpaw Dillon Peters has been impressive early with a 1.29 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 14.0 innings. Peters has gone seven innings in each of his two starts.
· Parker French picked up his first win of the season last Friday (Feb. 21) against Stanford when he went six strong innings allowing only one run and striking out a career-high eight. In the 2012 Houston College Classic against Rice, French earned his first career save in an 11-8 Horns win over the Owls.
· Lukas Schiraldi won his first career game as a Longhorns against Cal (Feb. 15) when he tossed seven strong innings, striking out two and only allowing one run.
· Texas starting pitchers have given up a total of nine earned runs in nine games so far this season.
SERIES RECORDS - Texas leads the series with Rice, 220-53-2; with Houston, 91-31-2; and with Sam Houston State, 72-18. The Longhorns have won three straight and four of the last five against the Owls; six of the last eight against Houston; and had an 11-game winning streak vs. Sam Houston State snapped with a 5-3 loss last year. Within Houston College Classic play, Texas is 4-2 vs. Rice, 4-2 vs. Houston, and hasn't faced Sam Houston State.
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 105 of 110 games over the last two-plus years (9-9 in 2014, 47-50 in 2013, 50-52 in 2012). Dating back to last year, he is on a 48-game streak of having reached base safely and a 18-game hitting streak. Last year he led the team with 20 multiple hit games and has achieved that feat in seven of nine games this year.
• Coming off an opening weekend that saw him go 9-for-17 in a four-game series at Cal, Payton managed to top that performance last week by going 10-for-14 (.714) while leading the Longhorns to a 3-1 record. Payton was a hard out all week – in a three-game series vs. Stanford, he was retired just twice, going 8-for-10 with five walks. The senior drew six walks on the week and had a .800 on-base percentage, in addition to a 1.000 slugging percentage (eight singles, two triples). Payton had multiple hits in three of four games, including a 4-for-5 performance in a 9-3 Friday night win over Stanford. He also had four RBI, four runs and a stolen base on the week, and had one outfield assist when he threw out a runner tagging up from third in Tuesday's 10-0 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• On the season, Payton is batting .571 (20-35) and has a 1.500 OPS (.857 slugging + .643 on-base).
• Payton is tied for third in school and Big 12 history with 17 career triples. He needs three more to match Bill Bates' (1983-85) school record and Jeff Liese (2000-03) of Nebraska's conference record.
CURTISS STARTS COMEBACK - Redshirt sophomore John Curtiss made his return to the mound for Texas on Tuesday vs. UTPA, starting and logging two innings with two strikeouts. Curtiss, whose last appearance prior to Tuesday was on May 24, 2012 in the Big 12 Tournament, is coming back from Tommy John and thoracic outlet syndrome surgeries. The right-hander was 2-3 with a 3.50 ERA in 28 appearances as a freshman (2012).
TWO-OUT PRODUCTION - Mark Payton has been at the top of his game when coming to bat with two outs. The senior is 6-for-9 on the season and has started several 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; his two-out single in the fifth inning against TAMU-CC on 2/18 led to a five-run inning; against Stanford on 2/21, he had a two-run triple with two outs that started a five-run inning; on 2/22 vs. Stanford, with the game tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, Payton worked an eight-pitch at bat and hit a run-scoring single to give Texas the lead.
• Andy McGuire (3-for-8), Jeremy Montalbano (4-for-13) and C.J Hinojosa (4-for-12) have also provided key two-out hits.
• Of Texas' 42 runs this season, 19 have come with two outs.
COMEBACK WIN - Texas' 2-1, comeback win over UTPA on Feb. 25 was its first since the 2012 season when trailing after eight innings. The Horns were 0-20 last year when trailing after eight.
GOING EXTRAS - Texas is 1-0 in extra inning games this year (2-1 win over UTPA in 11 innings on Feb . 25). The Longhorns were 1-2 in extras in 2013.
WALKING OFF - Senior Jacob Felts has provided the last two walk-off hits for Texas. His single to center in the 11th inning vs. UTPA on Feb. 25 scored Alex Silver to give Texas a 2-1 win. Prior to that, Texas' last win on a walk-off hit was March 16, 2013, on a double by Felts vs. Texas Tech.
