The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Incarnate Word
No. 16 Baseball Preview: vs. Incarnate Word [March 10]
03.09.2015 | Baseball
Texas plays host to Incarnate Word Tuesday at 6 p.m.
No. 16 Texas (10-6, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Incarnate Word (7-9, 1-2 Southland) • Tuesday, March 10, 6 p.m.
Where: Austin, Texas • UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,373)
TV: Longhorn Network
Talent: Kevin Dunn (Play-by-Play), Keith Moreland (Analyst)
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone, Texas Sports.com/Audio
Talent: Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: TexasSports.com
All-time Series: First meeting
Probable Starting Pitchers
UT - Fr. RHP Tyler Schimpf (0-0, 3.86)
UIW - So. RHP Cody Richey (0-3, 4.70)
A LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
• This marks the first meeting all-time between Texas and Incarnate Word. UIW is in just its second season of NCAA Division I baseball.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
• The Texas baseball team ranks in the Top 25 of each major college baseball poll (NCBWA - 16; USA Today Coaches Poll - 16; Collegiate Baseball - 17; D1Baseball.com - 18; Perfect Game - 19; Baseball America - 22).
• Texas scored in the first inning for the seventh time this season on Sunday against Stanford. The Longhorns are 5-2 when scoring at least one run in the first inning. The five runs were the most in the first inning of a game since Texas had six at Oklahoma on 4/11/14.
• The Horns have smacked 50 extra base hits (35 doubles, six triples, nine home runs) this season. UT blasted five of their nine home runs this past weekend against Stanford, including two from Ben Johnson last Thursday (March 5), the first multi-home run game of his career.
• In 2014, the Horns had just 22 extra base hits (13 doubles, seven triples, two home runs) through 16 games compared to the 50 this year (see page seven for full comparison).
• Collin Shaw had six doubles in the series vs. Minnesota (Feb. 20-22), and has a conference-high 11 two-baggers on the year, after having six extra base hits (five doubles, one triple) all of last season.
• Parker French picked up the 19th win of his career by going seven innings and allowing just one run in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Stanford, lowering his ERA to 1.61 which ranks seventh in the Big 12. French is the Big 12 active career leader in wins and innings pitched (271.0).
• Ben Johnson had multi-hit games against Stanford in game one of the series (3-for-4) and game four (5-for-5). He has a team-high nine multi-hit games this year and is hitting .443, which leads the Big 12. His 31 hits and 48 total bases also lead the conference.
• Against Stanford, the offense scored 21 of its 22 runs when the leadoff man reached base safely. For the year, UT has scored 71 of its 92 runs (77%) when the leadoff man gets aboard.
• Texas has four players hitting over .300 on the year: Ben Johnson (.443), Tres Barrera (.339), Collin Shaw (.308) and Michael Cantu (.304).
• The four also all have on-base plus slugging percentages (OPS) higher than .800 for the season: Ben Johnson (1.167), Tres Barrera (1.093), Collin Shaw (.883) and Michael Cantu (.828). Last season, the Longhorns finished with one player over .800 (Mark Payton, .828). As a team, UT currently holds an .800 OPS (finished 2014 at .709).
• Tres Barrera has reached base safely in all 16 games thus far. Barrera has .486 on-base percentage on the season and holds a 17-game reached base streak dating back to 2014.
• The Longhorn bullpen saw its streak of not allowing an earned run end at 37 2/3 innings with the four earned runs allowed in the top of the ninth of game two of doubleheader vs. San Diego (March 1). However, the relievers still hold a 1.71 ERA (eight earned runs in 63 1/3 innings) on the year.
• The pitching staff tossed its third consecutive shutout Feb. 29 vs. Minnesota, which was the first time Texas has done that since March 22-24, 2002, against UTPA. Prior to that, Texas hadn't recorded three straight since 1983 vs. Dallas Baptist.
• The pitching staff did not allow an earned run throughout the entire Minnesota series (Feb. 20-22), and it held Minnesota to an .067 batting average (3 for 45) with runners on base. With runners in scoring position, it held the Gophers hitless (0 for 18), and with two outs Minnesota hit .118 (4-for-34) with zero RBIs.
• The 31 runs scored by the Longhorns in the Minnesota series was the highest total in a four-game set since they had 34 against Dallas Baptist in 1989.
• Longhorn base runners swiped six bases Feb. 22 against Minnesota, the most since they had six steals against California on March 30, 2012.
• Texas is outscoring its opponents 42-9 from the seventh inning on this season.
• UT is 7-0 this season when leading after six innings.
• The Texas offense holds a .292 batting average with two outs on the season, and 40 of the team's 85 RBIs (.471) have come with two down in the inning.
