The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Oklahoma
Baseball preview: Texas at No. 16 Oklahoma [April 13-15]
04.12.2018 | Baseball
The Longhorns and Sooners face off in a matchup of two of the Big 12's top teams
Texas (22-13, 9-3 Big 12) at No. 16 Oklahoma (25-11, 8-1 Big 12)
April 13-15, 2018
Where: L. Dale Mitchell Park (Norman, Okla.)
Time: Friday—6:30 p.m.; Saturday—8 p.m.; Sunday—1 p.m.
TV: Friday—Sooner Sports Network; Saturday—ESPNU; Sunday—ESPN2
Radio: 104.9 The Horn, AM 1260
All-time series: Texas leads, 148-58-2
Complete Game Notes
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
FRIDAY—Oklahoma RHP Jake Irvin (5-0, 2.77) vs. Texas RHP Nolan Kingham (4-2, 4.14)
SATURDAY—Oklahoma RHP Devon Perez (4-0, 2.61) vs. Texas RHP Chase Shugart (3-2, 4.86)
SUNDAY—Oklahoma RHP Nathan Wiles (2-2, 4.04) vs. Texas RHP Blair Henley (5-3, 2.92)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas returns to the road for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at No. 16 Oklahoma…the Sooners sit atop the conference standings at 8-1, while the Longhorns roll into Norman at 9-3 in the Big 12.
A LOOK AT THE SOONERS—Oklahoma is off to an 8-1 start in Big 12 Conference play and a 25-11 start overall…the Sooners are coming off two midweek wins, the first over Arkansas-Little Rock and the second over Oral Roberts on Wednesday…last weekend, OU took two of three from TCU on the road…Steele Walker leads the Sooner offense with a .338/.444/.571 line and eight homers…OU has five players hitting .300 or better so far on the season.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas dropped Tuesday night's game on the road at No. 22 Texas A&M but had won six straight leading into it…Texas has won 13 of its last 17 games overall…the six-game winning streak was the longest of the season for the Horns…on Tuesday, the Horns came back to within one run twice at A&M, but couldn't complete the comeback despite three-hit efforts from Tate Shaw and Kody Clemens and good work out of the bullpen…over the weekend, the Longhorns completed their second Big 12 Conference series sweep with a three wins over Baylor…Texas held Baylor to one run over the final two games…Clemens continues to lead the offense, compiling a .358/.470/.683 line to go along with a team-high 9 homers and 35 RBI…he hit his 9th homer of the season last Saturday, which would stand as the game-winner…the Texas bullpen combined to allow just one run in 11 innings pitched over the weekend against Baylor.
NEXT UP—Texas will return home for a Tuesday night game against UT Rio Grande Valley before heading to Sugar Land for a Wednesday night game against Texas Southern at Constellation Field, home of the Skeeters…the Longhorns then begin a three-game series vs. New Orleans on Friday at home.
MIDSEASON HONORS—Perfect Game/Rawlings and D1Baseball.com each announced their Midseason All-America teams last week and 2B Kody Clemens was named to the first team on both…USA Baseball also announced Clemens as a member of its Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list… the junior has opened the 2018 campaign on a tear…he began 2018 with a 13-game hit streak, the longest for a Longhorn since Madison Carter's 15-game streak in 2014…Clemens has 27 walks to 22 Ks on the season, is 4-for-5 in stolen bases, and holds a team-best 1.162 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage)…he went 3-for-5 with a double and 3 RBI on Tuesday night and hit his ninth homer of the year last Saturday, setting a new career-high after hitting 5 in 54 games last season…he ranks in the top 5 in the Big 12 in batting average (4th, .367), hits (t-4th, 47), home runs (t-1st, 9), runs scored (t-4th, 33), RBI (2nd, 35), total bases (1st, 88), walks (2nd, 27), on-base percentage (3rd, .474), and slugging percentage (1st, .688).
ZUUUBOMB—Redshirt-freshman Zach Zubia was named Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week on Monday after hitting .368/.400/.632 with his sixth homer of the season…it is the first league honor of Zubia's career…he has reached base safely in each of the last 34 games in his rookie campaign and is second on the team with 29 RBI.
GO DJ, THAT'S MY DJ—After the first five attempted stolen bases against him were successful, junior catcher DJ Petrinsky has caught 13-of-19 since, improving his caught stealing percentage to over 54% for the season.
ROAD WARRIOR—Redshirt-junior Tate Shaw is hitting .459/.565/.622 in 11 away games this season with four doubles, a triple, and seven RBI.
CONFERENCE DEFENSE—The Texas defense has solidified since Big 12 Conference action began…the Longhorns are fielding at a .989 clip over 12 league games, with position players making just three of the team's five errors…in 12 conference games, the Texas defense has also turned 13 double plays…the Horns' .977 fielding percentage across all games is good for tops among Big 12 teams.
