The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
California
Baseball preview: vs. California [March 3-6]
03.02.2016 | Baseball
The Longhorns host the No. 12 Golden Bears in a four-game series.
Texas (5-3) vs. #12 California (5-3)
March 3-6, 2016
Where: Austin, Texas • UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Times: Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at noon.
TV: Longhorn Network
Talent: Keith Moreland (Play-by-Play), Greg Swindell (Analyst)
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Talent: Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: TexasSports.com
All-time Series: Split, 8-8
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
THU: UT RHP Nolan Kingham (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Cal RHP Jeff Bain (0-2, 3.38 ERA)
FRI: UT RHP Kyle Johnston (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Cal RHP Daulton Jefferies (2-0, 0.00 ERA)
SAT: UT LHP Ty Culbreth (2-0, 0.69 ERA) vs. Cal RHP Ryan Mason (1-0, 2.77 ERA)
SUN: UT RHP Connor Mayes (0-1, 3.38) vs. Cal LHP Matt Ladrech (1-0, 5.00 ERA)
THE MATCHUP
The Longhorns and Golden Bears have split the all-time series, 8-8. The two teams last met in 2014, splitting a four-game set, 2-2, in Berkeley.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas defeated Texas State in 11 innings on Tuesday night in San Marcos by a 10-4 final…after letting a two-run lead slip, the Longhorns scored six runs in the 11th inning to seal the win, Texas' first extra-inning win in three opportunities so far this season…the Bobcats had a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the 9th but freshman Chase Shugart got out of the jam…last weekend, the Longhorns split a four-game series with Stanford…for the second straight series, the Longhorns dropped the opener in 12 innings…Texas rebounded with a 4-3 win on Friday thanks to a seven-inning, nine-strikeout effort from Kyle Johnston…pitching was again the story on Saturday as senior Ty Culbreth held Stanford hitless through 6.1 innings of work…he also struck out a career-high 12 batters and did not issue a walk.
A LOOK AT THE BEARS—Cal dropped its Monday night nonconference game at home against Michigan…before that, the Bears swept a three-game set against Purdue, outscoring the Boilermakers 29-5 and registering 29 hits…in its opening weekend, Cal dropped two of three at Duke, with both losses coming at a one-run margin.
WEEKLY AWARD—With his eight shutout innings on Saturday against Stanford, senior Ty Culbreth earned his first weekly award from the Big 12 Conference as he was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week…it is the first conference honor of the season for the Longhorns.
RANKED OPPONENTS—This series vs. California (No. 12) is the Longhorns' first of the season against a ranked opponent…Texas' non-conference schedule includes matchups against No. 3 Texas A&M, California and No. 21 UCLA, as ranked in D1Baseball.com's most recent poll.
NEXT UP—The Longhorns are scheduled to face Sam Houston State at home on Tuesday before traveling to UCLA for a four-game weekend series.
WHERE THEY RANK—Texas dropped out of D1Baseball.com's Top 25 poll this week after holding the No. 23 spot for the first two weeks of play.
HITTING…THE BOOKS—Sophomore INF/OF Jake McKenzie earned the distinction of Engineering Scholar from the Cockrell School of Engineering, which recognizes his academic excellence, strength of character and promise of continued success in engineering.
HITTING…THE BASEBALL—Travis Jones leads the Longhorns offense in batting average, compiling a .500 (8-for-16) clip…Bret Boswell has a team-high 8 RBI…McKenzie ranks second on the team in both categories with a .316 average (6-for-19) and 6 RBI.
MILESTONE TRACKER — With his win on February 20 vs. UNLV, Garrido reached 800 career victories as head coach of the Longhorns…he is 45 wins away from 2,000 in his collegiate career.
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).
HAPPY AT HOME —The Longhorns have played seven of its eight games this season at home and have just four road games scheduled in their next 17 games…overall this season, 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 Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas, though the Longhorns will be considered the home team in that matchup.
