The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
Baseball preview: vs. West Virginia [May 19-21]
05.18.2017 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Mountaineers will finish out the regular season this weekend in Austin.
TEXAS (32-19, 9-11) vs. WEST VIRGINIA (31-20, 11-10)
May 19-21, 2017
Where: Austin, Texas (UFCU Disch-Falk Field)
Time: Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 4 p.m. CT, Sunday at 1 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM—Craig Way (Play-by-Play), Roger Wallace (Analyst)
Live stats: Sidearmstats.com/Texas/Baseball
All-time series: West Virginia leads, 8-4
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY—WVU RHP BJ Myers (4-2, 3.90) vs. RHP Nolan Kingham (7-4, 2.90)
SATURDAY—WVU RHP Alek Manoah (1-1, 2.70) vs. RHP Morgan Cooper (6-2, 2.27)
SUNDAY—WVU TBD vs. UT RHP Kyle Johnston (2-1, 3.24)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas and West Virginia meet for the 13th time in history on Friday night…the Mountaineers swept the Longhorns in Morgantown.
A LOOK AT THE MOUNTAINEERS—West Virginia is led by Kyle Davis' .328 batting average…he and Jackson Cramer are tied for the team lead with 8 home runs apiece…on the hill, BJ Myers leads WVU with 13 starts…he has compiled a 3.90 ERA so far this season to go along with a team-high 65 RBI.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is coming off a 10-3 Tuesday night win vs. Incarnate Word…the win moved the Longhorns to 12-2 in midweek contests this season…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 now boasts a .305 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 head to the Big 12 Conference tournament at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla., next week…seeding will be determined at the conclusion of this weekend…Texas and West Virginia will be the only game played on Sunday afternoon.
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE—Five members of the Texas Baseball team will walk in graduation on Friday: Bret Boswell, Kacy Clemens, Morgan Cooper, Zane Gurwitz and Jon Malmin…Boswell and Cooper are redshirt-juniors while the other three are seniors…the five will be recognized pregame before Sunday's game against WVU.
COOPER HONORS—Texas RHP Morgan Cooper was named one of 21 finalists for the College Baseball Foundation's Pitcher of the Year award…on Thursday afternoon, he was also named one of 25 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the NCBWA to the nation's top collegiate player.
STOPPER—Sophomore RHP Beau Ridgeway was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List…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 9th-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.
DEEEEFENSE—Texas is fielding at a .983 clip, good for third-best in the nation…the Horns have also turned 57 double plays, the fourth-most in the country.
GOLDEN SPIKES—Cooper and Nolan Kingham were both named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, announced by USA Baseball on April 12…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.
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 first on the team in BA (.307) and first in SLG (.517)…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 38 RBI and has swiped 9 bases this season, the first 9 of his career.
#MOREOFTHOSE—Through 51 games, 10 different Longhorns have gone deep giving Texas 42 total homers, after hitting just 34 last year…Kacy Clemens leads the team with 8 homers while five different Longhorns have five homers apiece: Kody Clemens, Bret Boswell, Ryan Reynolds, Patrick Mathis and Michael Cantu…Cantu and Mathis each homered on Tuesday night…Austin Todd hit his first career dinger on May 5 at TCU…Travis Jones went deep vs. UTA…Bret Boswell stroked a pair of homers in game two on Friday at Oklahoma State.
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 250 walks…Kacy Clemens and Travis Jones have each compiled 31 BBs, leading the team.
A NEW CHAPTER—February 17 marked David Pierce's first game at the helm of the Texas Baseball program…Pierce was named head coach on June 29, 2016, making him just the fifth Longhorn head coach since 1911 (with the exception of the war years of 1943-45 when Blair Cherry was at the helm) and the 13th head coach in 122 years of Texas baseball…Pierce—along with assistant coach Sean Allen, assistant coach Philip Miller and volunteer coach Phil Haig—came to Texas after two years at Tulane and three years at Sam Houston State.
MILESTONES—Pierce's first win with the program came on Saturday, February 18 over Rice in game one of the DH…on Wednesday night, Pierce collected his 200th career win, a 7-2 defeat of Sam Houston State, the program where Pierce first got his start as a collegiate head coach…he earned his first series win at Texas with a pair of victories vs. UCONN.
WATCH 'EM—All four of the remaining games at home will be broadcast on Longhorn Network with a booth made up of Lowell Galindo, Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell.
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.
