The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Lamar
Baseball preview: Lamar
04.15.2019 | Baseball
Longhorns close five-game home stand against Lamar
TEXAS (23-15) vs. LAMAR (13-23)
April 16, 2019
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: https://texassports.com/sidearmstats/baseball
All-time series: Texas leads, 33-7
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUESDAY—Texas Sr. RHP Matteo Bocchi (1-0, 2.29) vs. Lamar R-Jr. RHP Erik Key (0-0, 14.54)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas concludes its five-game home stand with a midweek game against Lamar. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 33-7, and have won the last two games over the Cardinals. Lamar is coming off of a three-game sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the Cardinals have a 13-23 overall record.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns are looking to rebound after dropping a home series to Kansas State. Texas struggled offensively in the series finale, being shutout for the fourth time this season. Zach Zubia had a big weekend at the plate, batting .455 with a double, a homer and seven RBI. His six-RBI game on Saturday is the most RBI by a Longhorn in game this season.
300—With the April 9 win over Rice, Texas head coach David Pierce recorded is 300th career win. Pierce served nine seasons as an assistant coach at Rice from 2003-11, helping lead the Owls to the 2003 National Championship and four College World Series appearances. The milestone win is the 300th for Pierce and his entire staff – Sean Allen, Philip Miller and Phil Haig – who have been together for eight seasons.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE—Through eight weeks of the season, the Longhorns have not produced big numbers at the plate. But what they have done is show incredible patience, with the 16th-most walks in the NCAA this season (199). Duke Ellis has been one of the nation's best at taking a free pass, ranking 11th in the country with 36 walks in 38 games played.
YOUNG GUNS—Head Coach David Pierce's 2019 pitching staff is likely the youngest he has ever head, featuring seven freshmen (one redshirt) and five sophomores (one redshirt). All 12 of the underclassmen pitchers have been called upon several times this season and seven of Texas' nine pitchers to have started a game are underclassmen. The true freshmen have accounted for 98 1/3 innings pitched and 16 starts, while the underclassmen as a whole have logged 241 innings out of the team's 334 1/3 total innings pitched.
EFFECTIVELY WILD—The Longhorns' young pitching staff has been known to be wild this season, with 157 walks and 47 wild pitches. However, opponents are only batting .234 against Texas pitching this season. The Longhorns have had two games in which they struck out 14 batters. On the other side, Texas pitching walked 10 in a game against UTSA and there have been three games that saw Longhorn pitchers throw four wild pitches.
WILDLY EFFECTIVE—The Longhorns' weekend rotation is anchored by two pitchers who have arguably been the most consistent arms on the staff. Bryce Elder has been outstanding, with a 2.93 ERA and a team-high 52 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings pitched. Blair Henley started slow but with his last seven starts, has lowered his ERA to 3.52. He is second on the team with 42 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings pitched.
NEXT UP—Texas heads back on the road for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at Oklahoma State that runs from Thursday to Saturday.
PACKING THE HOUSE—This season Texas has set and re-set attendance records at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Longhorn fans showed up in droves to see Texas host Texas A&M on April 2, establishing a new regular season record crowd of 7,952. The April 2 crowd topped the previous regular season record of 7,879, set earlier in the season against Texas Tech (3/16). The total attendances for the three-game series against LSU (22,434) and Texas Tech (22,729) are also program records. Texas ranks fifth in the country, and first in the Big 12, in total attendance (144,489) and fifth nationally in average attendance (6,020) this season.
RANKED—Texas remains in the national rankings heading into the 10th week of the season. The Longhorns' rankings are: D1Baseball (NR), Baseball America (#20), NCBWA (#25), USA Today Coaches Poll (#25) and Collegiate Baseball (NR).
WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS—Five Texas players have received weekly awards from the Big 12 Conference this season, including a pair of multiple-time honorees – Bryce Elder (Pitcher, Feb. 18), Coy Cobb (Newcomer, Feb. 25), Austin Todd (Player, March 4), Eric Kennedy (Newcomer, March 4), Masen Hibbeler (Player, March 18), Bryce Elder (Pitcher, March 25) and Eric Kennedy (Player, March 25).
MARCH MADNESS—During the month of March the Longhorns tested themselves against some of the best teams in the country, playing 15 games against nationally ranked teams. The Longhorns swept LSU, won the series over Texas Tech, dropped series on the road at Stanford and TCU and split a pair of midweek games against Arkansas. Texas finished the month of March with a 13-8 record that included eight wins over ranked teams.
PIERCE TO THE POSTSEASON—Head Coach David Pierce has reached the NCAA postseason in each of his seven seasons as a head coach at Texas, Tulane, and Sam Houston State. Last season marked the skipper's first trip to the College World Series as a head coach. Pierce advanced to the College World Series four times as an assistant coach at Rice, including winning the 2003 National Championship.
PRO PARKS—Texas plays a pair of regular season games in professional ballparks this season. The Longhorns played Incarnate Word at Nelson Wolff Stadium, home of the Triple-A San Antonio Missions, on March 26. Texas plays at Whataburger Field, home of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 30. Also for the 19th time, the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be played in Oklahoma City. The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, home of the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, plays host to the event.
DRAFTED—Texas saw five players selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft: INF Kody Clemens (Tigers, 3rd round, No. 79), RHP Nolan Kingham (Braves, 12th round, No. 354), RHP Chase Shugart (Red Sox, 12th round, No. 370), LHP Josh Sawyer (Cubs, 16th round, No. 488) and INF Andy McGuire (Blue Jays, 28th round, No. 836).
WATCH 'EM—All but one Texas home game will be broadcast on Longhorn Network this season. The team of Lowell Galindo, Keith Moreland, and Greg Swindell will return to the booth to call the action.
HEAR 'EM—In partnership with IMG-College, Texas games will be broadcast on the Austin Radio Network, primarily on 104.9 The Horn and AM 1260. Craig Way handles primary play-by-play duties alongside Roger Wallace and Quan Cosby.
