The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
Baseball preview: at Baylor [April 13-15]
04.12.2017 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Bears meet for a three-game series beginning Thursday.
TEXAS (23-13, 6-6) at BAYLOR (20-13, 3-6)
April 13-15, 2017
Where: Waco, Texas
Time: Thursday at 6:35 p.m., Friday at 6:35 p.m., Saturday at 3:05 p.m.
TV: FSSW | FS+ | FSSW
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM—Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Roger Wallace (Analyst)
Live stats: baylorbears.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 243-108-4
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
THURSDAY—Texas RHP Nolan Kingham (5-2, 1.23) vs. Baylor RHP Nick Lewis (3-3, 4.00)
FRIDAY—Texas RHP Morgan Cooper (4-2, 1.79) vs. Baylor RHP Montana Parsons (2-2, 3.02)
SATURDAY—Texas RHP Kyle Johnston (2-1, 3.35) vs. Baylor LHP Cody Bradford (4-2, 4.32)
SERIES NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas and Baylor meet for the 356th time in history on Thursday night…last season, Baylor took two of the three from Texas in Austin…the Bears won the first two games of the series before Texas took game three…the two teams then met in the Big 12 Conference Championship, where the Longhorns run-ruled the Bears in an elimination game.
A LOOK AT THE BEARS—Baylor's 20-13 record through 33 games is its best since a 26-7 start in 2012…the Bears have lost their last four three-game series and sit at 3-6 in Big 12 conference play…the Bears are led by Shea Langelier's .293 batting average…he is tied for the team-lead with five homers and is tied for third with 19 RBI…both Tucker Cascadden and Kameron Esthay have driven in 20 runs apiece…on the mound, the Bears rotation is led by RHP Montana Parsons (3.02) and their bullpen is led by RHP Troy Montemayor's 1.38 ERA and eight saves.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is coming off a 9-2 win over Texas State on Tuesday night and series win over then-No. 16 Oklahoma over the weekend…the Longhorns took the first two games vs. the Sooners before dropping a 2-1 game in the series finale…Tuesday night marked the first time Kacy Clemens did not appear in a contest as he sat out after his Sunday ejection vs. Oklahoma.
NEXT UP—Texas returns home to Austin to host Texas State on Tuesday night before welcoming New Orleans for a three-game non-conference series.
GOLDEN SPIKES—Texas right-handers Morgan Cooper and Nolan Kingham were both named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, announced by USA Baseball on Wednesday…Cooper and Kingham have compiled 1.79 and 1.29 ERAs, respectively, so far this season and lead the Longhorns staff.…the duo is among 40 players selected to the watch list which honors the nation's top amateur player… Texas is one of just six (Auburn, LSU, North Carolina, Oregon State, and Virginia) to land two athletes on the midseason watch list…the Longhorns have never had a Golden Spikes Award winner.
DEEEEFENSE—The Longhorns' defense has been sturdy so far this season…Texas is fielding at a .985 clip, good for second-best in the nation…the Horns have also turned 38 double plays, also good for second-most in the country…most of the DPs have been compliments of David Hamilton, Bret Boswell, and Kacy Clemens.
ONE-RUN WOES—With Sunday's 2-1 loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns dropped to 4-10 in one-run ballgames…five of those one-run losses have home in conference action.
MCCANNIMAL—Catcher Michael McCann has gone 23-for-64 in 21 games (18 starts) this season…he has added 4 XBH and 8 RBI after beginning the season as backup catcher.
SNEAKY WHEELS CLUB—Michael McCann and Kacy Clemens have added stolen bases to their respective resumes…combined, they're a perfect 9-for-9 on the basepaths.
#MOREOFTHOSE—Through 36 games, nine different Longhorns have gone deep giving Texas 29 total homers…Patrick Mathis homered in his first start in almost a month on Tuesday night vs. Texas State…Kacy Clemens and Kody Clemens both homered on Saturday afternoon, the second consecutive season that they both homered on April 8…Kody's tied the ballgame while Kacy's home run was a grand slam to break the game open…Ryan Reynolds hit two at Kansas…Tate Shaw hit a grand slam and Cantu homered on March 28…Kody Clemens hit a game-winning homer on March 26 in the sixth inning…Kacy Clemens hit a pair of homers on Feb 24 vs. UConn.
SENIOR LEADER—Senior 1B Kacy Clemens has been a stalwart at first base for the Longhorns so far this season…he had reached base safely in 21 straight games before his ejection on Sunday…he leads the team in BA (.322), OBP (.432) and SLG (.562) among qualifiers…he hit his sixth homer of the season on Saturday, a grand slam, giving him 6, a new season-high for the Houston native after he hit five last season…he is tops on the team with 28 RBI and has a team-high 23 BB so far.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE—As a team, Texas has amassed 191 walks, good for fourth-most in the country…Kacy Clemens and Travis Jones have each collected 23 free passes while Bret Boswell has walked 22 times and freshman David Hamilton has walked 21 times this year.
HOME SWEET HOME—Overall, Texas plays just 20 of its 54 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field…among those 20 games was a March 28 game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi and will include an April 25 game against Louisiana at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
PRESEASON POLL—In the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, Texas was selected to finish fourth behind preseason favorite TCU (64), Oklahoma State (54) and Texas Tech (48), all three of whom reached the College World Series last season…a different league team has won each of the past six Big 12 titles with Texas the last squad to repeat as regular season champions ('09-11).
HEAR 'EM—In partnership with IMG-College, Texas games will be broadcast on the Austin Radio Network, primarily on 104.9 The Horn and AM 1260.
