The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Wednesday, April 15
Austin, Texas
6 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
UT Arlington
Softball preview: vs. UT Arlington [April 15, 2015]
04.14.2015 | Softball
Texas looks to get back in the win column by hosting the Mavericks at McCombs Field
Texas Game Notes vs. UT Arlington
No. RV/RV Texas (27-12) vs. UT Arlington (26-19) | April 15 | Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Wed., April 15 – UT Arlington at #RV Texas – 6 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas – LONGHORN NETWORK
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: LINK
Television: Wednesday's contest is slated for live broadcast on Longhorn Network with Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (analyst) on the call. WATCH ESPN ONLINE
Radio: Wednesday's game is scheduled for broadcast with Terry Lewis on the call via the following link (also accessible on smartphones/you can listen in stadium on 90.3 FM): LINK
Base Knocks:
- Texas and UT Arlington are renewing a series on Wednesday that has included a total of 24 match-ups with the Longhorns leading by a commanding 22-2 total. UT is 17-2 against the Mavericks in Austin and has won the last 14 overall meetings in the series dating back to a 4-3 loss on March 22, 2001. The most recent contest between the pair occurred at McCombs Field on April 19, 2011, with the Horns prevailing, 8-0 (6 inn.).
- Since managing the first of her program-record stretch of five straight games with a HR back on March 28 at No. 22 Kansas, junior center fielder Lindsey Stephens has taken en fuego to a different level at the plate. Over the last nine games, Stephens is batting .500 (16-for-32) with nine runs scored, two triples, six HR's and 13 RBIs while slugging at a 1.188 clip. She has homered in six of her last nine contests, most recently on a first-inning solo shot off No. 5 Oklahoma's Shelby Pendley on April 10. With 13 HR's in 2015, tied for the sixth-most in any season in Longhorns history, Stephens is now just five HR's from tying Taylor Hoagland's school mark of 18 set back during the 2012 campaign.
- Texas is playing a remarkable 30 regular season games on a television network in 2015 with contests over a combination of the Longhorn Network, SEC Network, SEC Network+, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3, FOX Sports Net and ESPN2. The Longhorns enter Wednesday night's match-up against UT Arlington on LHN with a 16-6 record thus far on the tube this season.
- Texas has been effective in putting its limited defeats behind it in 2015 as the Longhorns boast a 7-4 mark in games immediately following a loss. The only times that UT failed to rebound from a loss to post a win in its next contest came during a three-game skid at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic over February 20-21 and in April 10-11 match-ups against No. 5 Oklahoma.
- The Longhorns have always had a tremendous amount of success against programs from the "Lone Star State," as UT holds a 295-69-1 (.809) overall record versus a combined 19 Texas teams, is 8-1 against such squads in 2015 and has won the last seven straight. The Burnt Orange & White leads the all-time series over 18 of those 19 programs with the lone blemish being a 20-20 series tie against longtime rival Texas A&M. The Horns faced off against Lamar and Texas Southern during the Texas Invitational, UTSA on March 24, Houston on April 1, Texas State on April 3-4 and Texas A&M-CC on April 7. UT will also battle Baylor during the 2015 regular season.
- UT hasn't shied away from playing some of the best teams in the nation in 2015 and has had solid success in those contests. Texas now owns a 6-6 mark against ranked squads this year with victories over No. 16 Arizona State, No. 8/7 Georgia, No. 12 UCLA and No. 22 Kansas (three wins). That tough schedule has helped lead to a No. 28 ranking in the most recent release of the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on April 13, a tool used to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament Field of 64. UT reached a season-high of No. 20 in the April 6 RPI release. Texas can boast of seven wins over top 31-rated RPI squads, UCLA (10), Arizona State (14), Georgia (19), Kansas (22-three wins) and Northwestern (31).
- If you look at this year's statistics, it's pretty obvious that Texas loves to jump on teams right from the start. UT enters its mid-week match-up against UT Arlington having scored in the first inning in nine of its last 11 contests. The Longhorns have scored 58 runs during the first inning (25 percent of its total runs), the most of any single frame, and 119 of its total tallies (51 percent) over the opening three innings. UT is 18-2 in games where it scores at least once in the first inning.
- Sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning has been prolific this year as Texas' lead-off hitter, reaching a remarkable 60 percent of the time when starting an inning (36-of-60 times). Recently, she's added a power threat at the dish as the Montgomery, Texas, native has registered a pair of two-HR performances over Texas' last six games (at Texas State, vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). Tunning is the only Longhorns player to have recorded a multi-HR effort this season and now owns a career-high five HR's in 2015.
- After dealing with some error issues defensively during the early portion of the 2015 campaign as a result of an unsettled infield line-up, things have improved significantly for the Longhorns since suffering through a three-miscue game against Lamar on Feb. 28 (three errors). Over the last 21 contests, Texas has committed just 10 total errors for a solid .981 fielding percentage while going mistake-free in 13 of those match-ups. That's certainly had an influence on UT's 16-5 record over those last 21 games.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball