The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UNLV
No. 23 Baseball preview: vs. UNLV [February 19-21]
02.18.2016 | Baseball
Longhorns open the season with a three-game set against the Rebels.
No. 23 Texas (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. UNLV (0-0, 0-0 Mountain West)
February 19-21
Where: Austin, Texas • UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,373)
Times: Friday at 6 p.m. | Saturday at 2 p.m. | Sunday at 1 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Talent: Keith Moreland (Play-by-Play), Greg Swindell (Analyst)
Radio: Friday and Sunday on 104.9 FM The Horn
Talent: Roger Wallace and Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: TexasSports.com
All-time Series: Texas leads, 5-2
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY
UT – So. RHP Kyle Johnston (2015 stats: 1-1, 2.21)
UNLV – Jr. RHP DJ Myers (2015 stats: 1-0, 6.48)
SATURDAY
UT – Sr. LHP Ty Culbreth (4-5, 3.95)
UNLV – Sr. RHP Kenny Oakley (4-5, 3.18)
SUNDAY
UT – So. RHP Connor Mayes (2-4, 2.58)
UNLV – Sr. RHP Ben Wright (1-2, 3.83)
THE MATCHUP
Texas leads the all-time series, 5-2, but the two teams have not met since a three-game series in Las Vegas from March 3-5, 2006. Their first meeting came on May 26, 1984, a 12-3 Texas win in NCAA Regional play in Austin. At UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the Longhorns are 4-0 against the Rebels.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
SERIES PROMOTIONS — This series will see a pair of familiar faces throw out first pitches…prior to Saturday afternoon's game, former Longhorns outfielder Drew Stubbs will toss the first pitch and before Sunday's series finale, former Longhorns and current NFL quarterback Colt McCoy will throw out the first pitch…kids can run the bases at UFCU Disch-Falk Field following the conclusion of Sunday's game.
LAST YEAR — A year removed from a College World Series appearance, the 2015 Longhorns finished 30-27 on the season but took home their record fifth Big 12 Conference Tournament title…Texas reached 30 wins for the 16th time in the last 17 seasons…with the Big 12 Tournament win, the Longhorns made their 57th NCAA Regional appearance, the most ever in Division I, and 15th under Head Coach Augie Garrido.
HALL OF FAMER — On January 8, Garrido was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame…his induction gave the Longhorns program four ABCA Hall of Famers, as he joined Billy Disch (inducted in 1966), Bibb Falk (1968) and Cliff Gustafson (1992).
MILESTONE TRACKER — With his first win this season, Garrido will reach 800 career victories as head coach of the Longhorns…he is 50 wins away from 2,000 in his collegiate career.
WHERE THEY RANK — Texas is ranked No. 23 by D1Baseball.com and No. 29 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA)…UT also received votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll…D1Baseball.com ranked RHP Nolan Kingham (No. 36) and LHP Nick Kennedy (No. 74) on its list of Top 100 Freshmen entering the season while both UT backstops made the Top 50 Catchers list (Barrera at No. 13, Cantu at No. 30)…Bret Boswell came in at No. 29 on the Top 50 Shortstops list and Joe Baker ranked No. 29 among Second Baseman.
BIG 12 COACHES SPLIT — In the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll, TCU was selected to win the league title with 57 points, though the top three teams were separated by just four points…the first-place votes were also split among the top three teams with TCU, Oklahoma State and Texas each receiving three first-place votes from the league's coaches.
RANKED OPPONENTS — The Longhorns' non-conference schedule includes matchups against No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 9 California, No. 11 UCLA and No. 22 Houston, as ranked in D1Baseball.com's preseason poll.
LONGHORNS IN THE DRAFT — Five Longhorns from the 2015 team were taken in the Major League Baseball June Draft: RHP Parker French (5th round), SS C.J. Hinojosa (11th round), OF Ben Johnson (11th round), LHP Kirby Bellow (26th round) and 2B Brooks Marlow (29th round)…four current freshmen were also taken: INF Kody Clemens (35th round), INF Matthew Schmidt (37th round), OF Tyler Rand (39th round) and RHP Nolan Kingham (39th round)…during Garrido's tenure as head coach at Texas, 105 Longhorns have been taken in the draft.
INNINGS EATER — Texas is without last year's innings leader, French,who tallied 91 innings on the year, but Mayes compiled the second-most innings pitched (66.1) followed by Culbreth (54.2) and LHP Josh Sawyer (46.2).
LONGHORN LONG BALL — Barrera, returns as the Longhorns top home run hitter last season with nine but the next four homer producers—Hinojosa (7), Marlow (6), Johnson (5) and Shaw (5)—all either graduated or were lost to the draft.
ALUMNI GAME — On February 6, the current Longhorns team took down a group made up primarily of UT alumni, 4-0…in that game, LHP Josh Sawyer held the alumni hitless through four innings, while LHP Ty Culbreth followed with four scoreless innings of his own…Kody Clemens and Patrick Mathis each had two hits apiece while Michael Cantu reached base three times…in addition to the alumni who attended the game, those who played in it included: Cameron Rupp, Kevin Keyes, Ben Johnson, Brooks Marlow, Drew Stubbs, Erich Weiss, Kirby Bellow, Taylor Jungmann and Andrew McKirahan.
'15 ACCOLADES — C Tres Barrera earned second-team All Big 12 honors last season…INF Bret Boswell, C Michael Cantu and RHP Connor Mayes were all named to the league's All-Freshman Team…Mayes also earned Co-Most Oustanding Pitcher honors (along with RHP Parker French) at the Big 12 Tournament while OF Zane Gurwitz earned the Most Outstanding Player nod…INF Joe Baker, Barrera, Boswell and INF Brooks Marlow were named to the All-Tournament Team.
HAPPY AT HOME — Twenty of the Longhorns first 25 games are set to take place at home in Austin…the only road games in that time come at Texas State (March 1), at UCLA (March 11-13) and at Texas A&M (March 15)…overall, Texas plays just 18 of its 52 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field…among those 18 games is an April 12 contest against the University of Houston at Costellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas, though the Longhorns will be the home team.
WATCH 'EM — All but one of Texas' home games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field will be shown on Longhorn Network…former Longhorn greats Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell will handle the play-by-play and color analyst duties, respectively…both broadcasters have their numbers retired at UFCU Disch-Falk Field…when Texas hosts TCU on March 25, FOX Sports 1 will take over the broadcast as a part of its season-long Big 12 schedule…the Longhorns will also be shown on FS1 on April 1 while playing at Oklahoma.
HEAR 'EM — In partnership with IMG-College, Texas home games will be broadcast on the Austin Radio Network, primarily on 104.9 The Horn…Garrido will also call in to the station on a weekly basis.
