The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
Baseball preview: at Oklahoma State
04.17.2019 | Baseball
Longhorns face Cowboys in Stillwater.
TEXAS (24-15, 5-6) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (22-13, 7-5)
April 18-20, 2019
Where: Stillwater, Okla. (Allie P. Reynolds Stadium)
Time: Thursday at 7 p.m.; Friday at 6:35 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m. CT
TV: Thursday–FS1; Friday–FSSW+; Saturday–ESPNU
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 62-43
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
THURSDAY—Texas So. RHP Bryce Elder (2-2, 2.93) vs. Oklahoma State Jr. RHP Jensen Elliott (4-2, 4.53)
FRIDAY—Texas Jr. RHP Blair Henley (6-1, 3.52) vs. Oklahoma State TBA
SATURDAY—Texas TBA vs. Oklahoma State TBA
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas heads on the road for a three-game series at Oklahoma State. The teams will get the series started on Thursday at 7 p.m. on FS1, with Friday's game at 6:35 p.m. on FSSW+ and Saturday's series finale on ESPNU at 3 p.m. Last season, the Longhorns won the series over the Cowboys after dropping the opening game. The last time the teams met in Stillwater, weather forced Sunday's game to be canceled and the teams split the series.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns enter the weekend in search of their first Big 12 Conference series win since taking two of three against Texas Tech March 15-17. Texas has won its last two midweek games, over Rice and Lamar, getting solid outings from Matteo Bocchi in both games.
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 15th-most walks in the NCAA this season (204). Duke Ellis has been one of the nation's best at taking a free pass, ranking eighth in the country with 37 walks in 39 games played.
TAKE IT EASY ON HIM—Michael McCann is filling a role he's never had in his career, serving as the team's everyday starting catcher. The redshirt senior came into the season having made just 49 career starts spread over his first four seasons with the program. This year McCann has started 31 games and played in 36 total, despite missing three games due to injury in March.
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 100 1/3 innings pitched and 16 starts, while the underclassmen as a whole have logged 243 1/3 innings out of the team's 343 1/3 total innings pitched.
EFFECTIVELY WILD—The Longhorns' young pitching staff has been known to be wild this season, with 160 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 makes the short trip to San Marcos to take on Texas State Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Longhorns will be back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to host West Virginia for the weekend.
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 (149,195) and fifth nationally in average attendance (5,968) this season.
RANKED—Texas remains in the national rankings heading into the 10th week of the season. The Longhorns' rankings are: Baseball America (#20), NCBWA (#25), USA Today Coaches Poll (#25), D1Baseball (NR) 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.
