The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Sam Houston State
Baseball preview: Texas vs.No. 25 Sam Houston State [March 20]
03.19.2018 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Bearkats will face off on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Texas (12-9) vs. No. 25 Sam Houston State
March 20, 2018
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field (Austin, Texas)
Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 The Horn, AM 1260
All-time series: Texas leads, 76-19
Complete Game Notes
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUESDAY—Sam Houston State RHP Nick Mikolajchack (2-2, 3.38) vs. Texas RHP Nico O'Donnell (1-1, 4.02)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns host No. 25 Sam Houston State on Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.…the teams met twice last season, once in Huntsville and once in Austin, with Texas coming away 2-0…Texas head coach David Pierce spent three seasons as head coach at SHSU (2012-14).
A LOOK AT THE BEARKATS—Sam Houston State broke into the D1 Baseball Top 25 this week at No. 25…the Bearkats are 6-0 in Southland Conference play and have rattled off nine striaght wins overall…Chase Cryer leads the Bearkats with a .356 average while Hunter Hearn has a team-high four homers…RHP Nick Mikolajchak will make his first career start on Tuesday…he recorded 13 saves for SHSU last season and has two this season in 10 relief appearances.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is coming off a Big 12 Conference series sweep of Kansas at home…the Longhorns outscored the Jayhawks 25-8 in the three games…Texas won, 14-4, on Friday night backed by a Nolan Kingham complete game…Texas shut out Kansas on Saturday, 4-0, thanks to seven innings from Blair Henley and two from Beau Ridgeway…the Horns edged the Jayhawks, 5-4, on Sunday, aided by a pair of homers from Masen Hibbeler and Kody Clemens…Clemens leads the team with a .366 average and six homers while Hibbeler is next with a .337 average…Ridgeway collected his 3rd save of the year on Saturday.
NEXT UP—Texas will host its second straight Big 12 Conference series when Oklahoma State comes to UFCU Disch-Falk Field…the Longhorns hold a 60-42 all-time advantage over the Cowboys and a 31-14 advantage in Austin.
CLEMENS, HIBBELER EARN WEEKLY AWARDS—Kody Clemens and Masen Hibbeler were named Big 12 Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week, respectively, for their efforts in the Longhorns' 3-2 week…Clemens hit .316/.364/.789 for the week with two homers and seven RBI while Hibbeler hit .333/.391/.571 with his first career homer…the weekly awards are the first career honors for both Clemens and Hibbeler.
THREE AND OH—The Longhorns opened Big 12 Conference action with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2012.
16 FOR 16—On Friday night, Texas honored the life and career of legendary former head coach and No. 16, Augie Garrido, who passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 79…the Longhorns pounded out 16 hits in Friday night's win.
GO DJ, THAT'S MY DJ—After the first five attempted stolen bases against him were successful, junior catcher DJ Petrinsky has caught six-of-eight since, improving his caught stealing percentage to 46.2 percent.
ELLIS ELEVATING—After Duke Ellis compiled a .200/.231/.200 line in eight February games, the CF has hit .333/.521/.433 in 13 games in the month of March…his 16 walks rank second on the team, with 15 of those coming this month alone.
PATIENT CLEMENS—Clemens has opened the 2018 campaign on a tear at the plate…he opened 2018 with a 13-game hit streak, the longest for a Longhorn since Madison Carter's 15-game streak in 2014…Clemens has amassed 19 walks to just 12 Ks on the season, is 3-for-3 in stolen bases, and holds a team-best 1.199 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage)…he has also reached base safely in all 21 games played this season, and 22 overall dating back to the 2017 campaign…he hit his 6th homer of the year on Sunday in his 21st game, a new career-high after hitting 5 in 54 games last season.
HENLEY HITTING HIS STRIDE—Aside from his March 10 start vs. Stanford in which he allowed five runs in six innings, sophomore starter Blair Henley has been very good so far this season…the right-hander has allowed zero runs in three of his five starts and just one in another…without the Stanford start, Henley would be 3-0 with a 0.37 ERA to go along with a 1.17 WHIP…following his Feb 25 start at LSU, Henley was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week.
