The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Incarnate Word
Baseball preview: vs. Incarnate Word [May 16]
05.15.2017 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Cardinals face off for just the second time in school history.
TEXAS (31-19) vs. INCARNATE WORD (20-32)
May 16, 2017
Where: Austin, Texas (UFCU Disch-Falk Field)
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM—Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live stats: Sidearmstats.com/Texas/Baseball
All-time series: Texas leads, 1-0
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUESDAY—Incarnate Word RHP Tyler Miller (1-3, 8.37) vs. Texas LHP Nick Kennedy (7-1, 2.50)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas and Incarnate Word meet for just the second time in school history. Their previous meeting came on March 10, 2015 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS—Incarnate Word snapped a five-game skid on Sunday with a 17-7 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at home…the Cardinals are led offensively by Eddy Gonzalez's .351 average while Lee Thomas as a team-high five homers and 32 RBI…Mark Whitehead leads the team in stolen bases with 18 on the year…out of the bullpen, Incarnate Word has four players who have made at least 20 appearances: Cody Allen, Lance Moszkowicz, Ramon Salazar, and Tyler Miller…Miller will make his first start this season.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas was swept in three games at TCU from May 5-7, though the Longhorns fell in extras in two of those contests…on Friday night, Texas fell behind 7-2 and 9-4 before storming back to take a 10-9 lead in the 10th…TCU tied it up with a solo homer in the bottom half before walking it off in the 11th…freshman Austin Todd, who leads the team with a .301 average, had a career day on Friday, pounding out 5 hits including his first career homer…Zane Gurwitz also added five hits in that game, helping Texas to its season-best 17 hits…on Sunday, Texas led 3-0 for much of the game before TCU came back to win it 4-3 in 10 innings…Nick Kennedy took his first loss of the season in that game.
NEXT UP—Texas will finish the regular season with a three-game Big 12 Conference series against West Virginia…the Mountaineers currently sit at a No. 20 ranking in RPI while the Longhorns sit at No. 23.
PITCHER OF THE YEAR—Texas RHP Morgan Cooper was named one of 21 finalists for the College Baseball Foundation's Pitcher of the Year award.
STOPPER—Sophomore RHP Beau Ridgeway was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List on Wednesday afternoon…he now has 11 saves, becoming the first Longhorn since Corey Knebel in 2011 to record double-digit saves.
ONE-RUN WOES—With two walk-off losses at TCU, the Longhorns dropped to 7-13 in one-run ballgames, with eight of those one-run losses coming in conference action.
TEAM ERA—The Longhorns pitching staff has compiled a 3.13 team ERA, good for 10th-best in the nation and best in the Big 12…the Longhorns have also registered seven shutouts on the season, most in the conference and tied for seventh-most in the country.
GOLDEN SPIKES—Texas RHPs Cooper and Nolan Kingham were both named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, announced by USA Baseball on April 12…Cooper and Kingham have compiled 2.27 and 2.90 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 .983 clip, good for fifth-best in the nation…the Horns have also turned 57 double plays, the second-most in the country.
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 April 9 vs. Oklahoma…he is second on the team in BA (.298) and first in SLG (.509)…he hit his eighth homer of the season vs. UNO a season-high for the Houston native after he hit five last season…he is tops on the team with 36 RBI.
#MOREOFTHOSE—Through 50 games, 10 different Longhorns have gone deep giving Texas 40 total homers, equaling the Longhorns' total from all of last season…Austin Todd hit his first career dinger on Friday at TCU…Travis Jones went deep vs. UTA…Bret Boswell stroked a pair of homers in game two on Friday at Oklahoma State…Patrick Mathis also homered in the game…Zane Gurwitz hit his second of the season in game one of Friday's doubleheader, which cut the Longhorns' deficit to one…freshman Ryan Reynolds is tied with Boswell and Kody Clemens for second-most on the team with five long balls while Kacy Clemens leads the squad with eight on the year.
SNEAKY WHEELS CLUB—Michael McCann and Kacy Clemens have both added stolen bases to their respective resumes…combined, they're a 12-for-13 on the basepaths, eight for Kacy and four for McCann.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE—As a team, Texas has amassed 244 walks…Kacy Clemens as amassed 31 RBI while Travis Jones has walked 30 times…five other Longhorns have at least 20 BBs so far this year.
WATCH 'EM—All four of the remaining games at home will be broadcast on Longhorn Network with a booth made up of Lowell Gallindo, Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell.
