The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UT Arlington
Baseball preview: vs. UT Arlington [May 2]
05.02.2017 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Mavericks are both coming off series wins over the weekend.
TEXAS (30-16) vs. UT ARLINGTON (26-17)
May 3, 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, 55-18
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUESDAY—UT Arlington RHP Matt Michalski (0-1, 8.25) vs. Texas RHP Kyle Johnston (2-1, 3.26)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas and UT Arlington meet for the first time since March 17, 2015 at Globe Life Park.
A LOOK AT THE MAVERICKS—UT Arlington has won eight straight including a three-game sweep of Louisiana this weekend in Sun Belt action…Will Olson leads the team with a .328 batting average…Omar Salinas leads the team with 7 homers and 34 RBI…Austin Gardner has appeared in the most games on the hill for the Mavericks, posting a 2.76 ERA in 21 games.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas dropped its Tuesday night matchup against No. 24 Louisiana at Constellation Field in Sugar Land but rebounded for a doubleheader sweep on Friday at Oklahoma State…the pair of wins moved the Longhorns to 9-8 in Big 12 action…game three was washed out…Bret Boswell drove in 7 RBI in the doubleheader, two in game one and five in game two…his 5 RBI in game two came off a pair of homers, a two-run bomb in the second and a three-run shot in the third…Kacy Clemens leads the Longhorns with a .301 average, eight homers and 34 RBI…out of the bullpen, Beau Ridgeway has made 25 appearances and has amassed 10 saves and a 1.47 ERA…RHP Kyle Johnston will start as his scheduled Sunday start was canceled.
NEXT UP—Texas heads to No. 9 TCU this weekend for a three game series…the Longhorns took 2-of-3 in Austin in 2017.
ONE-RUN WOES—With a 5-4 win in Friday's game one, the Longhorns improved to 7-11 in one-run ballgames, although six of those one-run losses have come in conference action.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK—Texas right-hander Morgan Cooper was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for this seven-inning, two-hit effort at Oklahoma State…the redshirt-junior was perfect through 3.2 innings of work…he struck out a career-high-tying 11 batters and walked just one…he lowered his ERA to a Big 12-best 1.45 and now has a league-high 86 strikeouts.
GOLDEN SPIKES—Texas RHPs Morgan 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 1.61 and 1.98 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.
STOPPER—Sophomore RHP Beau Ridgeway was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List on Wednesday afternoon…he picked up his 10th save over the weekend, becoming the first Longhorn since Corey Knebel in 2011 to record double-digit saves.
TEAM ERA—The Longhorns pitching staff has compiled a 2.88 team ERA, good for eighth-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—The Longhorns' defense has been sturdy so far this season…Texas is fielding at a .983 clip, good for sixth-best in the nation…the Horns have also turned 48 double plays, good for fifth-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 leads the team in BA (.301) and SLG (.532)…he hit his eighth homer of the season last Friday, a season-high for the Houston native after he hit five last season…he is tops on the team with 34 RBI.
#MOREOFTHOSE—Through 46 games, nine different Longhorns have gone deep giving Texas 37 total homers, one fewer than all of last season…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 for second-most on the team with five long balls while Kacy Clemens leads the squad with eight on the ear.
SNEAKY WHEELS CLUB—Michael McCann and Kacy Clemens have both added stolen bases to their respective resumes…combined, they're a 11-for-12 on the basepaths, seven for Kacy and four for McCann.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE—As a team, Texas has amassed 229 walks, good for 13th-most in the country…Travis Jones has walked 29 times, Kacy ha walked 28 times and four other players have at least 20 BBs.
