The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
Baseball preview: No. 19 Texas at West Virginia [April 27-29]
04.26.2018 | Baseball
The Longhorns return to Big 12 Conference play with a three-game set in Morgantown.
No. 19 Texas (29-15) at West Virginia (20-18)
April 27-29, 2018
Where: Morgantown, W. Va.
Time: Friday—5:30 p.m. CT, Saturday—3 p.m. CT, Sunday—Noon CT
TV: WVUsports.com
Radio: 104.9 The Horn, AM 1260
All-time series: Texas leads, 94-32-2
Complete Game Notes
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHES
FRIDAY—West Virginia RHP BJ Myers (0-1, 4.89) vs. Texas RHP Nolan Kingham (5-2, 4.29)
SATURDAY—West Virginia RHP Kade Strowd (4-3, 4.24) vs. Texas RHP Chase Shugart (4-2, 4.12)
FRIDAY—West Virginia TBD vs. Texas RHP Blair Henley (5-5, 3.05)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—No. 19 Texas heads to West Virginia for a three-game Big 12 Conference series against the Mountaineers…the last time Texas went to West Virginia, it fell in all three games in 2016.
A LOOK AT THE MOUNTAINEERS—West Virginia has won four of its last five including winning two-of-three against K-State last weekend at home…the Mountaineers are coming off a 13-inning win over Marshall on Tuesday night…WVU is led on offense by the trio of Marques Inman (.347, 5-HR), Kyle Gray (.331, 7-HR), and Darius Hill (.311, 4-HR)…the Mountaineers have a pair of double-digit base stealers in Brandon White and Braden Zarbinsky…on the mound, the relief corps is led by Sam Kessler's 1.89 ERA over 17 appearances while Shane Ennis leads the team with 21 appearances (1 start).
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas has won five of its last six, including a 9-4 Tuesday night win at home over Houston…the Longhorns have played six straight non-conference games since winning two of three at Oklahoma…on offense, Kody Clemens continues to lead, compiling a .350/.451/.693 line with 13 home runs and 47 RBI…Zach Zubia has amassed nine homers and 35 RBI so far in his freshman season…on the mound, Chase Shugart is coming off a career performance last Saturday vs. New Orleans, going a career-high 7.2 innings and allowing one earned run.
NEXT UP—Texas will face off against Texas State on Tuesday night before hitting the road again for a three-game set in Lubbock against Texas Tech.
KODY SHOW CONTINUES—Kody Clemens continues to pace the Longhorns offense…over the weekend, he hit his Big 12-leading 13th homer of the season…earlier this month, Perfect Game/Rawlings and D1Baseball.com each announced their Midseason All-America teams 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…Clemens ranks in the top five in the conference in several offensive categories: home runs (1st, 13), SLG (2nd, .693), total bases (2nd, 113), BA (5th, .350), and RBI (3rd, 47).
VROOM VROOM—Sophomore SS David Hamilton stole his Big 12-leading 26th base of the year over the weekend…he is Longhorns' first player with at least 26 stolen bases since Golden Spikes Award finalist Drew Stubbs stole that many in 2005…his 26 bags currently rank T-4th in the country…he also leads the team with 6 bunt singles on the year and 32 BBs.
CONFERENCE DEFENSE—The Texas defense has solidified since Big 12 Conference action began…the Longhorns are fielding at a .988 clip over 15 league games, with position players making just five of the team's seven errors…the Horns' .978 fielding percentage across all games is good for tops among Big 12 teams…Texas has also turned 48 double plays on the year, which leads the nation.
GO DJ, THAT'S MY DJ—After the first five attempted stolen bases against him were successful this season, junior catcher DJ Petrinsky has caught 16-of-24 since, good for 55.2% caught stealing overall on the season.
BACK IN THE POLLS—After the series win at then-No. 16 Oklahoma, Texas shot back into the rankings…the Longhorns are currently ranked No. 19 by D1Baseball.com, No. 19 by Baseball America, and No. 21 by PG/Rawlings.
ZUUUBOMB—Despite a three-hit game and a game-winning home run over the weekend, Zach Zubia's reached base safely streak came to an end at 41 games on Sunday…overall, the redshirt-freshman has won a pair of Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards this season and has hit .340/.453/.660 with four homers so far in 15 games in the month of April to push his average just under the .300 mark.
