The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Saturday, April 30
Austin, Texas
12 p.m.
University of Texas
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Kansas
Softball preview: vs. Kansas [April 30-May 1, 2016]
04.28.2016 | Softball
The Longhorns look to extend their four-game winning streak while hosting the Jayhawks at McCombs Field
Texas Game Notes vs. Kansas - [April 30-May 1, 2016]
Kansas (27-16, 4-5 Big 12) at No. RV Texas (31-13, 5-6 Big 12) | April 30-May 1 | McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Saturday, April 30
12 p.m. CT Kansas at No. RV TEXAS (GAME ONE) – LHN Live/Tape status still TBA
(30 mins. after) Kansas at No. RV TEXAS (GAME TWO) – LHN Live/Tape status still TBA
Sunday, May 1
11 a.m. CT Kansas 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: Sunday's game will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network with Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Leigh Ross (color) on the call. Saturday's games are still TBA on live or tape-delayed LHN status.
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:
- With just one or two more runs along the way at the right time, the 2016 regular season could have been truly remarkable. TEXAS SOFTBALL HAS LOST 13 GAMES THIS YEAR BY A COMBINED TOTAL OF JUST 24 RUNS! The Longhorns haven't lost a game by more than four runs this season (L, 9-5 at Texas State back on March 2) and have been defeated by one run on six occasions. Of course, Texas has also posted 15 of its wins this year by either one or two runs.
- UT head coach Connie Clark reached a MILESTONE VICTORY on Wednesday night with a 6-0 win over Texas Southern. Clark's overall record stands at 800-343-3. The postgame celebration where senior captains Lindsey Stephens, Rachel Scott and Stephanie Ceo surprised coach during the postgame LHN interview with pies in the face made Thursday morning's edition of ESPN SportsCenter AM (as #BestPie) as well as the national NCAA Softball and NFCA Twitter accounts.
- The Longhorns have an opportunity to set a new single-season record for double plays in a campaign, entering this weekend's action with 20 twin-killings this year to tie for the third-most in the program's record book in the category. The all-time record is 25 established by the 2009 Texas team.
- 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 .419 two-out average (18-for-43) with 15 two-out RBIs, while Stephens is at .357 (15-for-42) with 12 two-out RBIs.
- Senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens is approaching several personal milestones at Texas as the senior center fielder is just 11 HITS AWAY from becoming just the 10th Longhorns player in program history to reach the 200-career-hit plateau (has 189 hits as of April 26), needs to appear in just THREE MORE GAMES to join teammate Stephanie Ceo in reaching the 200-games-played mark (currently has 197 career appearances as of April 26) 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).
- Sophomore designated player/pitcher Paige von Sprecken was named the Big 12 Conference's Player of the Week on April 26, after leading the Longhorns during their sweep of Oklahoma State over April 22-24 by hitting .571 (4-for-7) with her first career HR and six RBIs. Included in her efforts was the game-winning RBI single in the sixth inning of the 8-7, series finale triumph. Over UT's last 14 games dating back to the second game of the DH against BYU on April 2nd, von Sprecken is batting a team-best .500 (13-for-26) with five extra-base hits and a squad-high 11 RBIs.
- Texas has made protecting its home turf a priority in 2016 and still has a chance, with five home games remaining and an outstanding 21-4 home record entering this weekend's series against Kansas, to eventually enter the program's all-time top five list for most home victories in a single season. If the Longhorns were to win four-of-five, they would equal the 2011 and 2005 Texas teams with a 25-5 home mark. A clean sweep of all five games would mean a 26-4 home mark and fifth by itself. The all-time program record for home triumphs is 32 established back in 2006.
- The Longhorns have had some difficulty this season settling on a one-through-nine batting line-up as UT has used 33 different combinations through the opening 44 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 20 of its last 22 GAMES starting on March 17 at Hawai'i.
- The latest release of the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) was issued by the NCAA on Monday with Texas rated at a season-best No. 32 overall. In the Big 12 Conference, the Longhorns were third behind Oklahoma (No. 3) and Baylor (No. 14). UT was No. 37 in the initial release of the season on March 20, No. 41 on March 27, No. 36 in both the April 4 & 11 releases and No. 38 last week (April 18).
- Texas is currently on pace to strike out as a team just 189 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.
- When the Longhorns out-hit their opponent, that usually means a "W." This season Texas is 25-4 when putting more hits up on the board than the opposition and just 6-9 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 44 contests, the Longhorns are 22-2 when putting a run on the scoreboard first and just 9-11 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 44 games of the season, the Longhorns are 30-5 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 an 11-6 record in one-run games in 2016. UT also owns five walk-off wins and 12 come-from-behind victories this year. In all, 12 of Texas' last 27 games have been settled by one run with Texas owning a 6-6 mark in those 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 (.357), tied for second in triples (13), second in HR's (39), third in RBIs (152), second in slugging percentage (.699), sixth in runs scored (139), eighth in doubles (38) and tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.439).
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Players Mentioned
2B
/ Softball
3B/SS
/ Softball
OF
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OF
/ SoftballRHP
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