The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
Baseball Preview: at Baylor [May 16-17]
05.15.2015 | Baseball
Horns close regular season with three-game set in Waco
Texas (24-24, 9-12 Big 12) at Baylor (20-28, 8-13 Big 12) • Saturday, May 16 - Sunday, May 17
Where: Waco, Texas • Baylor Ballpark
Times: Saturday, 3 p.m. | Sunday, 1 p.m., 5 p.m.
TV: FOX Sports Southwest (Saturday); FOX Sports Southwest Plus (Sunday)
Talent: John Morris (PbP), Jay Lockett (Analyst), Pat Combs (Analyst)
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone, Texas Sports.com/Audio
Talent: Craig Way (PbP), Roger Wallace (Analyst), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/texas/baseball
All-time Series: Texas leads, 237-105-4
A LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
• Texas leads the all-time series with Baylor 237-105-4, including a 92-58-3 mark in Waco.
• In 2014, the Longhorns swept the Bears in a three-game set in Austin that featured a two-out, three-run double from Mark Payton in the bottom of the ninth of game one of the series that gave the Horns a 5-4 walk-off victory.
• The 346 all-time matchups between the two squads rank Baylor as the second most common opponent in UT history, trailing only Texas A&M (371).
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
• Texas comes into the series with a 9-12 Big 12 record which puts it in fifth place in the league. Entering Friday's games, the Longhorns are a half-game ahead of West Virginia (8-12) and a game ahead of K-State and Baylor (both 8-13) and can finish no higher than fifth and no lower than eighth in the standings.
• Pitching matchups for the weekend have not been determined. The Longhorns and Bears are the only Big 12 schools starting their series on Saturday, and Sunday's doubleheader comes just three days prior to the start of the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa.
• Sunday marks the fifth doubleheader of the year for the Horns who hold a 2-6 record in the previous four. It also marks the first time Texas has played a Sunday doubleheader in league play since 2002 (UT swept K-State).
• Senior right-hander Parker French earned the 20th win of his career against Texas Tech on May 1 in his last career home start by tossing 7 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. The start also moved him into fifth all-time in school history in pitching starts with 51. French is eighth in the Big 12 in ERA (2.34) and 10th in innings pitched (73.0).
• C/1B Tres Barrera is on an 11-game reached base streak. The sophomore has reached base in 45 of 48 games this season, including the first 17 games of the year.
• Junior left fielder Ben Johnson leads the Big 12 in triples (7), is second in multi-hit games (24), third in total bases (113) and fourth in hits (73) and slugging percentage (.551). Johnson will miss Saturday's game after being ejected from Sunday's finale vs. Tech (5/3).
• Nine of UT's 24 losses have come by one run (most in Big 12), five by two runs and six in extra innings. In the last 22 games, the Horns have dropped four in extras and five by one run.
• UT matched Baylor for the lead league with 12 selections to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Baseball team, while the Longhorns' nine members on the first team was a league best.
• Despite a .500 record thus far, UT has posted a plus-40 run differential over the course of the season (226 to 186).
• Freshman Connor Mayes is fourth in the Big 12 in appearances with 25 and leads conference freshmen with a .230 opp. b/avg. against.
• UT is outscoring its opponents 68-27 in the seventh and eighth innings this season, and is 19-0 when leading after seven frames.
• Texas has the 21st most difficult schedule in the country according to BoydsWorld.com. The Longhorns entered the year with the fourth-ranked intended strength of schedule (Chart on p. 5).
• Longhorn pitchers rank third in the Big 12 in ERA (3.21) and the bullpen has a 2.36 mark on the season.
• Brooks Marlow ranks third in school history with 643 assists, and is also third in double plays with 138 (chart on p. 6).
• UT has scored 104 of its 226 runs (46.0%) on the year with two down in the inning.
• Joe Baker (.385), Ben Johnson (.339) and C.J Hinojosa (.327) have come up with clutch two out this season (Averages are with two outs).
• Of Texas' 226 runs, 147 (65.0%) have come when the leadoff man gets aboard.
• Three Longhorns rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 Conference in walks (Cantu t-7th with 30, Barrera 9th with 28, Boswell 10th with 27). Texas has 197 bases on balls in its first 48 contests (4.1 per game).
• Both Ben Johnson (.973) and Tres Barrera (.897) boast on an OPS over .800. Mark Payton (.811) was the only Longhorn with an OPS over .800 last season. The lineup currently holds a team OPS of .734 after posting a .709 mark in 2014.
• Texas has eight multi-home run games this season after having just two in 2014, and UT hitters have 107 multi-hit games (2.2 a game).
