The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
LSU
Baseball preview: No. 19 Texas at No. 23 LSU [Feb 23-25]
02.22.2018 | Baseball
The Longhorns travel to Baton Rouge for the first time since 1999.
No. 19 Texas (3-1) at No. 23 LSU (2-2)
February 23-25, 2018
Where: Baton Rouge, La. (Alex Box Stadium)
Time: Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
TV: SECN+, WatchESPN
Radio: 104.9 The Horn
Live stats: www.LSUsports.net
All-time series: Texas leads, 23-10-1
Complete Game Notes
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY—LSU RHP Zack Hess (0-1, 30.86) vs. Texas RHP Nolan Kingham (1-0, 0.00
SATURDAY—LSU RHP Caleb Gilbert (0-0,10.38) vs. Texas RHP Chase Shugart (0-0, 0.00)
SUNDAY—LSU RHP Todd Peterson (0-1, 6.75) vs. Texas RHP Blair Henley (0-0, 1.80)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—No. 19 Texas heads to Baton Rouge to take on No. 23 LSU in Baton Rouge for the first time since 1999…the two teams last met in Omaha, with LSU defeating the Longhorns in the College World Series championship series.
A LOOK AT THE TIGERS—LSU is coming off a 14-6 win over New Orleans on Wednesday night at Alex Box Stadium…the Tigers opened their season with a series loss to visiting Notre Dame last weekend…the Tigers were outscored 23-19 by the Fighting Irish over the three-game set.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is coming off a 7-2 win over Lamar on Wednesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field…the Longhorns won their season-opening series against Louisiana, two games to one…Texas won game one, 3-0, thanks to an eight-inning effort from Nolan Kingham…Kingham went eight shutout frames, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 10…it took him 89 pitches to get through his eight frames before Beau Ridgeway came on for his first save…in game two, Texas got a strong first career start from Chase Shugart but Louisiana took the lead in the top of the ninth…Masen Hibbeler drove in the game-tying run in the home half before Austin Todd hit a walk-off home run to give Texas the 5-3 win…the Longhorns came up short in game three despite a solid start from Blair Henley and Texas fell, 2-1.
NEXT UP—Texas returns to UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday night for a weekday matchup with UTSA…the Longhorns then host Northwestern in a four-game series that includes a doubleheader on Saturday in Austin.
IN THE RANKINGS—Texas currently sits at : D1Baseball (#19), Baseball America (#14), NCBWA (#19), USA Today Coaches Poll (#20), and Collegiate Baseball (#19).
STRONG STARTERS—The Longhorns starting rotation of Nolan Kingham, Chase Shugart, and Blair Henley, respectively, combined to go 19.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned), 11 hits, and two walks while striking out 18 over the three-game series…Kingham went eight shutout, Shugart allowed one unearned run over 6.2 innings, and Henley went five innings, allowing one earned run.
THE KING—Kingham's performance earned him Perfect Game/Rawlings National Pitcher of the Week recognition…it is the first such time he's earned that honor in his career…prior to the season, he was named a Perfect Game/Rawlings preseason All-America third team selection.
WALK IT OFF—After falling behind, 3-2, in the top of the ninth on Saturday, Texas fought back for a 5-3 win in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off win…Masen Hibbeler hit an RBI single before sophomore Austin Todd launched a two-run, game-winning homer…it was the first walk-off win at UFCU Disch-Falk Field since Mark Payton's three-run double on April 7, 2014, vs. Baylor and the first walk-off homer at home since Cameron Rupp hit one on March 20, 2010 vs. Nebraska…junior Kody Clemens, who was on base for Todd's homer, was responsible for the last walk-off hit/homer for the Horns when he hit a solo homer vs. TCU in the Big 12 Tournament.
WELCOME TO THE FORTY ACRES—Masen Hibbeler had a stellar weekend debut for the Longhorns…the Odessa College transfer went 7-for-13 with two runs, an RBI, and two steals on the weekend and 3-for-4 in his first game at Texas…he drove in the game-tying run in the ninth inning on Saturday, setting up the walk-off win, while playing second base and left field.
TOP OF THE ORDER—The Longhorns' one-through-four hitters—David Hamilton, Masen Hibbeler, Kody Clemens, and Austin Todd, respectively—have hit a combined .322 so far this season with nine runs scored and nine RBI.
CROWNING ACCOLADES—RHP Nolan Kingham received several preseason honors…the junior has been named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list, and to the NCBWA, Perfect Game/Rawlings, and Collegiate Baseball preseason All-America third teams.
RIDGEWAY RECOGNITION—Texas closer Beau Ridgeway was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award preseason watch list and an NCBWA preseason third team All-American.
D1BASEBALL RANKINGS—In D1Baseball.com's Top 100 College Prospects list, the Texas rotation was recognized…Kingham was highest at No. 47, followed by No. 76 Blair Henley, and No. 89 Chase Shugart…Matteo Bocchi, Kody Clemens, Michael McCann, Donny Diaz, and Ryan Reynolds made the "best of the rest" list…in D1's position power rankings, several Horns made the cut: Clemens (3B, #24), Reynolds (1B, #26), David Hamilton (SS, #30), and Austin Todd (OF, #58).
LAST SEASON—Texas came up a game short of an NCAA Super Regional appearance when it dropped a pair of games at Long Beach State in the NCAA Regional…the Longhorns dropped both games by one run after opening regional play with two wins…Texas lost its leading hitters, Kacy Clemens (.305) and Zane Gurwitz (.305) and starter Morgan Cooper (6-3, 2.32 ERA), but returns Friday night starter Nolan Kingham (10-4, 2.84) and closer Beau Ridgeway (12 saves, 1.89)…SS David Hamilton and 1B Ryan Reynolds return to an infield that helped turn 65 double plays in 2017…the UT defense ranked fourth in the nation last year.
PRO BALLPARKS—Texas will once again head to Whataburger Field, home of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this year (April 3)…the Longhorns also return to Constellation Field, home of the Sugar Land Skeeters, to take on Texas Southern on April 18.
NEW MAKEUP—The Horns have a total of 10 new transfers, nine of which are from junior colleges…the Horns also have 10 freshman (or redshirt-freshman) on the roster in 2018.
DRAFTED—UT had 11 players from the 2017 team taken in the MLB Draft, tied for most in the nation…RHP Morgan Cooper (Dodgers, 2nd round), LHP Nick Kennedy (Rockies, 5th), RHP Kyle Johnston (Nationals, 6th), 2B Bret Boswell (Rockies, 8th), 1B Kacy Clemens (Rockies, 8th), RHP Tyler Schimpf (Giants, 13th), OF Patrick Mathis (Astros, 22nd), RHP Connor Mayes (Royals, 24th), 2B Zane Gurwitz (Angels, 26th), UTIL Travis Jones (Royals, 29th), LHP Jon Malmin (Angels, 31st).
PRESEASON POLL—In the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, Texas was selected to finish third behind preseason favorite Texas Tech (61) and TCU (60)…last season, seven of the nine Big 12 teams made the NCAA postseason.
YEAR TWO—February 17, 2017, marked David Pierce's first game at the helm of the Texas Baseball program…Pierce was named head coach on June 29, 2016, when he became 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 coaches Sean Allen and Philip Miller and volunteer coach Phil Haig—came to Texas after two years at Tulane and three years at SHSU.
PIERCE TO THE POSTSEASON—Head Coach David Pierce has reached the NCAA postseason in each of his six seasons as a head coach at Texas, Tulane, and Sam Houston State.
