The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Friday, April 22
Austin, Texas
6 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
Oklahoma State
Softball preview: vs. Oklahoma State [April 22-24, 2016]
04.21.2016 | Softball
The Longhorns prepare to welcome the Cowgirls to McCombs Field for a Big 12 Conference series
Texas Game Notes vs. Oklahoma State [April 22-24, 2016]
Oklahoma State (22-19, 4-6 Big 12) at No. RV Texas (27-13, 2-6 Big 12) | April 22-24 | McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Friday, April 22
6 p.m. CT Oklahoma State at No. RV TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH LHN
Saturday, April 23
1 p.m. CT Oklahoma State at No. RV TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH LHN
Sunday, April 24
12 p.m. CT Oklahoma State at No. RV TEXAS – LINK TO WATCH LHN
**check TexasSports.com or our Twitter account (@TexasSoftball) for any weather-related delay or cancellation information should it become necessary
Location: Austin, Texas (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: All three games: LINK
Television: All three games will be broadcast on Longhorn Network with Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (color) on the call.
Radio: All three contests are slated for radio broadcast via web stream with Terry Lewis on the call via this LINK. They can also be heard locally in Austin on 105.3 FM in the local and surrounding areas, part of the Austin Radio Network supported by the flagship radio station of the Longhorns, 104.9 FM The Horn.
Base Knocks:
- Senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens needs just one more double to set a new Texas single-season doubles record. The Beaumont, Texas, product currently owns a career-high 16 two-baggers this season, equaling the school mark established by former Longhorns Taylor Thom (2013) and Nadia Taylor (2012). With 12 regular-season contests plus postseason remaining, chances are highly likely that Stephens will break the mark.
- Senior right fielder Holly Kern enters this weekend on a career-long, six-game hitting streak. The Plano, Texas, native is hitting .318 during the skein, that included both series against Texas Tech and #12/9 Oklahoma, with a double, a grand slam and five RBIs.
- Stephens is also approaching several personal milestones at Texas as the senior center fielder is just 13 HITS AWAY from becoming just the 10th Longhorns player in program history to reach the 200-career-hit plateau (has 187 hits as of April 21), needs to appear in just SEVEN MORE GAMES to join teammate Stephanie Ceo in reaching the 200-games-played mark (currently has 193 career appearances as of April 21) and has to hit just ONE MORE HR to become only the second UT player to hit 40 HR's in her career (Taylor Hoagland blasted 58 HR's from 2010-13).
- Which Longhorns hitters do you want at the plate with two outs in an inning and needing a run? Junior third baseman Celina Felix and senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens, that's who. Felix owns a .415 two-out average (17-for-41) with 14 two-out RBIs, while Stephens is at .395 (15-for-38) with 12 two-out RBIs.
- The Longhorns have had some difficulty this season settling on a one-through-nine batting line-up as UT has used 29 different combinations through the opening 40 games. In fact, the most Texas has used any one-through-nine combination has been four times. Texas has used different 1-through-9 line-up combos in 16 of its last 18 GAMES starting on March 17 at Hawai'i.
- Texas is currently on pace to strike out as a team just 195 times in 2016, which would mark the second-fewest K's by a UT team in a single season in program history (No. 2 is currently 196 K's by the 2015 team). The school record for the fewest K's in a single campaign was established by the 1997 edition of the Horns which struck out just 169 times over 54 match-ups.
- The latest release of the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) was issued by the NCAA on Monday with Texas rated at No. 38 overall. In the Big 12 Conference, the Longhorns were fourth behind Oklahoma (No. 3), Baylor (No. 17) and Oklahoma State (No. 36). UT was No. 37 in the initial release of the season on March 20, No. 41 on March 27 and No. 36 in both the April 4 & 11 releases.
- UT head coach Connie Clark is closing in on a milestone victory during her impressive career on the Forty Acres. With her 2016 team currently sitting at 27-13, Clark's overall record stands at 796-343-3, meaning the 20th year varsity coach needs just four more victories to reach the 800-win mark in her career.
- When the Longhorns out-hit their opponent, that usually means a "W." This season Texas is 23-4 when putting more hits up on the board than the opposition and just 4-9 when tied or trailing in the hit category.
- Who scores first has played a major role to this point in whether Texas or its opposition wins games in 2016. Thus far through 40 contests, the Longhorns are 20-2 when putting a run on the scoreboard first and just 7-11 when the opposition crosses the plate initially.
- Scoring three runs appears to be the magic number for success for the Texas softball teams this season. Through the opening 40 games of the season, the Longhorns are 26-5 when scoring three-or-more times in a game and 1-8 when being held below that number.
- Texas is obviously comfortable playing close games as the Longhorns currently boast a 10-6 record in one-run games in 2016. UT also owns five walk-off wins and 11 come-from-behind victories this year. In all, 11 of Texas' last 23 games have been settled by one run with Texas owning a 5-6 mark in those contests.
- Since the decision was made to move senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens into the lead-off spot in the line-up prior to the Illinois game on Feb. 27 (26 games ago), the Beaumont, Texas, native is hitting .451 (37-for-82) with 23 runs scored, 11 doubles, three triples, five HR's and 22 RBIs to go along with a 1.362 OPS. That's certainly not to take away from what UT's normal lead-off hitter Devon Tunning did in that spot over the opening 14 games this season, a .366 mark (15-for-41) with a .458 on-base percentage while reaching base safely by hit or walk in 12 of 14 contests.
- Senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens continues her quick ascension up the Texas career charts in numerous categories. She's now fourth in career batting average (.359), tied for second in triples (13), second in HR's (39), third in RBIs (152), second in slugging percentage (.702), tied for sixth in runs scored (134), tied for eighth in doubles (36) and fifth in on-base percentage (.436).
- With a fifth-inning pinch running appearance during UT's 6-5 loss at No. 20 Baylor, senior second baseman Stephanie Ceo appeared in her 200th career game on the Forty Acres. With 213 career appearances, she needs to appear in eight more games to tie Lexy Bennett (2009-12) for 10th all-time in program history (221 appearances). Now with 208 career starts (got 200 in the DH opener vs. UTEP on April 5), Ceo needs just nine more to tie Bennett for 10th in that category (217).
Players Mentioned
2B
/ Softball
3B/SS
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball