The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 8/9 Baseball Preview: vs. Baylor [April 4-6, 2014]
04.03.2014 | Baseball
Texas and Baylor open series Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 8/9 Texas (23-7, 3-3 Big 12) vs. Baylor (15-13, 4-4 Big 12) · April 4-6
Where: Austin, Texas • UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,237)
Times: 7 p.m. (Fri.)/7 p.m. (Sat.)/2:30 p.m. (Sun.)
TV: Longhorn Network - Talent: Kevin Dunn (PbP), Keith Moreland (Analyst)
Radio: AM-1300 The Zone, online at www.TexasSports.com/showcase - Talent: Craig Way (PbP), Roger Wallace (Analyst), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/texas/baseball
All-Time Series: Texas leads, 234-105-4, 113-39-1 at home
Probable Starting Pitchers
LHP Brad Kuntz (4-0, 2.95) vs. Jr. RHP Parker French (4-2, 1.57)
RHP Austin Stone (3-2, 1.69) vs. Jr. LHP Dillon Peters (3-2, 2.68)
RHP Dillon Newman (3-1, 2.88) vs. Sr. RHP Nathan Thornhill (4-0, 0.88)
QUICK HITS
· Texas has won eight of its last nine games, including a series victory at Texas Tech last weekend.
· Texas ranks fifth in the first official version of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) released by the NCAA on Tuesday. The Longhorns have a 7-2 record against teams in the RPI top 30, including 5-1 in road and neutral games. Against the RPI top 50, Texas is 13-5 including 7-3 in road/neutral contests.
· The Longhorns led the Big 12 in hitting last week with a .338 average. Freshman Tres Barrera, who was 8-of-19 (.421) with seven RBI in four games, was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
· The Texas pitching staff leads the Big 12 and is tied for fourth nationally with a 1.98 ERA. That's a full run better than TCU, which is second in the league at 2.98. As a staff, Texas is holding opponents to a .218 batting average, also best in the league.
· Texas has allowed just 76 runs (2.5 runs/game) this year. That's the lowest number of runs allowed through 30 games in head coach Augie Garrido's 18-year tenure at Texas.
· The Longhorns rank second in the league and ninth nationally in fielding percentage (.981). At home, Texas has a .990 fielding percentage, having committed just seven errors in 18 games. Texas leads the Big 12 and is tied for 11th nationally in double plays (31).
· Over the last nine games, Texas is averaging 6.55 runs per game and hitting .330 as a team with a .442 slugging percentage and .429 on-base percentage. The Horns have recorded double-digit hits in eight of those nine games. The Longhorns are 9-0 when scoring six or more runs this year.
· Barrera (18-40 .472), Zane Gurwitz (13-34, .382), Ben Johnson (14-37, .378), Brooks Marlow (13-36, .361), Mark Payton (12-34, .353) and C.J Hinojosa (11-34, .324) have been the offensive leaders over the last nine games.
· Since March 11, Barrera is 24-of-54 (.444) at the plate, including five doubles, a triple and a home run. He has raised his batting average 169 points (128 to 297) in that span.
· Texas is ranked in the top 15 by all five major polls, including 8th by Baseball America and 9th by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
· Mark Payton leads the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.511) and triples (5), ranks second in batting average (.396) and third in walks (25). Payton has reached base safely in 69 consecutive games dating back to last season, which is the longest streak nationally and the second longest in Big 12 history (93 - Nick Martini, K-State, 2009-11).
· Head coach Augie Garrido surpassed Gordon Gillespie for the most wins (1,894) by any college baseball coach at any level with the 5-1 win over Texas State on March 25. He now has 1,897.
· Texas' 44 hits vs. Texas Tech last weekend are the most in a three-game series since March 16-18, 2012, when the Longhorns had 45 at Oklahoma.
· The Longhorns are 12-1 when scoring in the first inning this season. The lone loss came on March 29 at Texas Tech. Texas has scored in the first inning in six of the last seven games.
· The Longhorns are tied with TCU for a Big 12 best five shutouts. That also ranks t-9th nationally.
· Texas is No. 2 in the country in Iterative Strength Rating, according to college baseball site BoydsWorld.com. The Longhorns have played the ninth most difficult schedule.
· The Texas bullpen had a streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings snapped when it surrendered five runs in the ninth inning against Kansas on March 16. On the year, the bullpen has a 1.95 ERA, while the starters have a 2.00 ERA.
· Texas is 23-3 when scoring two runs or more.
· Texas has stolen 27 bases on 34 attempts this season, with Collin Shaw (7-10), Ben Johnson (6-6) and Mark Payton (5-6) leading the way. The Longhorns have been excellent against the run, with opponents stealing just 12 bases on 18 attempts. That's the second lowest number in the Big 12, with West Virginia ranking first (10-16).
· Texas leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally with 46 sacrifice bunts.