The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 10 Baseball preview: at Baylor
03.18.2021 | Baseball
The Longhorns hit the road for the first Big 12 series of the season.
#10 TEXAS (12-5, 0-0) at BAYLOR (12-4, 0-0)
March 19-21, 2021
Where: Baylor Ballpark
Time: Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: Baylor.StatBroadcast.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 248-111-4
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY–Texas RHP Ty Madden (2-1, 1.33) vs. Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (2-0, 1.96)
SATURDAY–Texas RHP Tristan Stevens (1-1, 3.63) vs. Baylor RHP Blake Helton (1-1, 4.41)
SUNDAY–Texas RHP Kolby Kubichek (2-1, 2.50) vs. Baylor RHP Hayden Kettler (1-0, 1.54)
THE MATCHUP—Texas travels up I-35 to face Baylor for the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. The teams split two games in Waco in 2019, with the Sunday game being canceled due to weather. In the series opener, Baylor rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-5 and in Game 2 the Longhorns trailed 5-0 before going on to win 8-6. Texas has won five of the last six games over Baylor, including a three-game series sweep in Austin in 2018.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Following a sweep of No. 12 South Carolina and a 15-2 midweek win over UTRGV, the Longhorns are riding a six-game winning streak and are 12-2 in the last 14 games. The sweep of the Gamecocks was the first over a ranked opponent since knocking off No. 2 LSU early in the 2019 campaign. The Longhorns closed out a 5-0 homestand in which they batted .359 and scored 45 runs. Over the last 14 games, Texas is hitting .297 and averaging nearly eight runs a game while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.59 ERA and holding opponents to a .184 batting average.
QUICKER THAN QUICK—Mike Antico leads the Big 12 and is fourth nationally with 11 stolen bases. Eric Kennedy is right behind him, holding down the second spot in the conference with eight stolen bases. As a team, the Longhorns have swiped 28 bases, which leads the conference and ranks 13th nationally. Additionally Kennedy uses his speed regularly to get on base with eight infield singles, including five bunt hits this season.
FLASHING THE LEATHER—Trey Faltine has been a human highlight reel this season, making the difficult look routine. The Longhorns shortstop leads the Big 12 with 51 assists and is tied for second with 10 double plays while sporting a .973 fielding percentage in 73 chances.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH—Zach Zubia's eighth inning base-hit drove in the game-winning run in the series opener against No. 12 South Carolina on Friday. On the season, Zubia has a team-leading 18 RBI, including 11 in the last five games. He has six multiple-RBI games this season, including a five RBI output against Sam Houston.
BREAKOUT HODO—Douglas Hodo III has been clutch in the early going, collecting seven two-hit performances in 14 games to hit at a .348 clip while scoring 14 runs and driving in nine. He's also reached base in 13-straight games and has a hit in nine of his last 12 games played.
K … IT'S IN THE NAME—Kolby Kubichek stands ninth in the Big 12 with 25 strikeouts and is averaging 12.50 strikeouts per nine innings, the fourth-best rate in the conference.
ALL YOU NEED IS PATIENCE—Mike Antico and Trey Faltine currently sit in the top-15 in the nation with 14 walks a piece, which is good for fourth in the Big 12 Conference. Zach Zubia was drawn 12 base on balls to place him at 11th in the conference. The Longhorns have collectively drawn 89 walks, fourth-most in the conference and 15th-most in the NCAA.
THE ACE—Ty Madden has been brilliant this season, twice earning Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, including following his 14-strikeout, complete game shutout outing on March 5 against Houston. That performance also garnered nods as the NCBWA and Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week, one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of The Week and one of four nominees for the Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week. Madden currently leads the Big 12 and ranks 11th nationally with 35 strikeouts this season. He also leads the conference in hits allowed per nine innings (3.33), while ranking third in WHIP (0.70) and eighth in ERA (1.33).
HEAR 'EM—In partnership with Learfield 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.
WATCH 'EM—All of Texas' home games will be broadcast on Longhorn Network this season. The team of Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell will return to the booth to call the action.
