The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arkansas
Softball Preview: the Texas Classic [Feb. 11, 2016]
02.10.2016 | Softball
The Longhorns welcome in Arkansas, North Carolina and North Dakota State to McCombs Field over Feb. 11-14
Texas Game Notes at the Texas Classic
Texas hosts the Texas Classic | Feb. 11-14 | McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Thursday, February 11
6 p.m. CT Arkansas at TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH
Friday, February 12
12 p.m. North Dakota State vs. Arkansas
3 p.m. North Carolina vs. North Dakota State
6 p.m. North Carolina at TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH
Saturday, February 13
10 a.m. North Dakota State vs. Arkansas
1 p.m. North Carolina vs. TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH
3:30 p.m. Arkansas vs. TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH
6 p.m. North Carolina vs. North Dakota State
Sunday, February 14
9 a.m. Arkansas vs. North Carolina
12 p.m. North Dakota State vs. TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH
**ALL games during the Texas Classic are slated for live broadcast on Longhorn Network or through the WatchESPN app; second team listed is the home team
Location: Austin, Texas (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: Available for every game here: LINK
Television: Each game of the Texas Classic is slated for live broadcast on Longhorn Network. Alex Loeb (play-by-play) and Amanda Scarborough (analyst) will call the Texas match-ups, while Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (analyst) will handle the neutral contests.
Radio: Texas' games are slated for radio broadcast via webstream with Terry Lewis on the call via this LINK. The Texas broadcasts can also be heard locally this weekend in Austin on 105.3 FM in the local/surrounding areas, part of the Austin Radio Network supported by the flagship radio station of the Longhorns, 104.9 FM The Horn.
Base Knocks:
- Texas owns an INCREDIBLE season-opening winning streak dating all the way back to the initial varsity season for the program in 1997. The Longhorns have won ALL 19 of their season openers, including high-profile wins over No. 3 UCLA (2007), Florida State (2009), No. 20 DePaul (2010), Louisville (2011) and No. 17 LSU (2014). During that stretch, Texas has registered 12 shutouts and outscored its opponents by a combined 129-10. The streak grew during the 2015 season as UT blasted past UCSB at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., 15-0 (5 inn.).
- Senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens begins the 2016 season on the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List for the second consecutive campaign. The Beaumont, Texas, native enters the year ranked second in slugging percentage (.689), tied for third in triples (10), seventh in batting average (.344), RBIs (120) and on-base percentage (.420) and tied for seventh in HR's (32) in the UT career record book.
- Texas opens the 2016 season among those teams "receiving votes" in both the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls. In the NFCA rankings, UT earned 12 points, good to sit at 31st overall, while in the USA Softball listing, the Horns tallied 13 points to rate 28th overall.
- Taking a quick look back at the 2015 edition of the Texas Classic, the Longhorns went 4-1 with wins over IPFW, Wichita State and Colorado State and a loss to Wichita State (4-6). From an individual standpoint, first baseman Holly Kern and shortstop Devon Tunning each had quite the weekend offensively. Having entered the event with one HR and just 26 total RBIs over 78 games in her UT career, Kern went off to the tune of a .438 batting average, three doubles, a HR and a staggering 15 RBIs over five games. Tunning led the squad over the five match-ups in batting average (.636), slugging percentage (.909), walks (six) and on-base percentage (.765) after reaching in 13 of her 17 plate appearances (seven hits, six walks).
- Texas is very familiar with two of this weekend's Texas Classic opponents having played both Arkansas and North Carolina in 2015. The Longhorns swept a three-game series at Arkansas last year, with two of those games requiring extra innings, and lead the all-time series against the Razorbacks, 4-0. During the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2015, UNC took an 8-3 decision from the Horns, but Texas still leads the all-time series, 4-2-1. UT will be facing North Dakota State for the first time in program history.
- Under the guidance of head coach Connie Clark, Texas has always proven to be a fearsome force during the opening month of February. The Longhorns hold a stellar 233-84-2 overall record during the month, having won approximately 74% of their games all-time.
