The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas State
Baseball preview: at Texas State
04.22.2019 | Baseball
Longhorns travel to San Marcos for midweek contest.
TEXAS (24-18) at TEXAS STATE (27-13)
April 23, 2019
Where: San Marcos, Texas (Bobcat Ballpark)
Time: Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT
Video: TXStateBobcats.com/Watch
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: texasstate.statbroadcast.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 50-11
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUESDAY—Texas Fr. RHP Kolby Kubichek (0-0, 6.28) vs. Texas State Jr. Garrett Hermann (4-1, 4.46)
GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP—Texas makes the short trip to San Marcos to take on Texas State Tuesday at 6 p.m. Last season, the Longhorns swept a trio of midweek games against the Bobcats, including a 6-1 win at Bobcat Ballpark. Texas has won the last five meetings with Texas State, with the last loss coming in 2017 in San Marcos. The Bobcats are led offensively by the middle infield duo of second baseman Jaxon Williams and shortstop Dalton Shuffield. Williams is batting .353 with 47 runs scored, while Shuffield is batting .344 with nine doubles, two triples and a homer.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns are in the midst of only their second losing streak of the season, following a sweep at the hands of Oklahoma State. Texas is just 4-7 in the month of April and during the month the Longhorns have batted just .243 while the pitching staff has a 5.93 ERA.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE—The Longhorns have not produced big numbers at the plate this season, but what they have done is show incredible patience with the 16th-most walks in the NCAA (217). Duke Ellis has been one of the nation's best at taking a free pass, ranking ninth in the country with 40 walks in 42 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 33 games and played in 39 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 105 2/3 innings pitched and 17 starts, while the underclassmen as a whole have logged 262 1/3 innings out of the team's 367 2/3 total innings pitched.
EFFECTIVELY WILD—The Longhorns' young pitching staff has been known to be wild this season, with 192 walks and 53 wild pitches. However, opponents are only batting .239 against Texas pitching this season. The Longhorns have had 13 games in which they struck out 10 or more batters. On the other side, Texas pitching has walked nine or more in six games and there have been 15 games that saw Longhorn pitchers throw multiple wild pitches.
WILDLY EFFECTIVE—The Longhorns' weekend rotation is anchored by two pitchers who have been the most consistent arms on the staff. Bryce Elder has been outstanding, with a 3.05 ERA and a team-high 62 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched. The sophomore has been unlucky though, with just a 2-3 record. Blair Henley has a 3.81 ERA and a 6-2 record with 50 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched. Six of Henley's last eight starts have been quality starts.
NEXT UP—The Longhorns will be back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field this weekend to host West Virginia for a three-game Big 12 Conference series.
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.
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 te
