The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina
No. 1 Baseball preview: at South Carolina
03.10.2022 | Baseball
The Longhorns head on the road to face SEC opponent South Carolina.
#1 TEXAS (12-2) at SOUTH CAROLINA (7-5)
March 11-13, 2022
Where: Founders Park
Time: Friday at 12 p.m. CT; Saturday at 3 p.m. CT; Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT
Live Stream: SECN+/SEC Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: Texas.Statbroadcast.com
All-time series with South Carolina: Texas leads, 6-0
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY–Texas LHP Pete Hansen (2-0, 0.53) vs. South Carolina RHP Will Sanders (2-0, 2.37)
SATURDAY–Texas RHP Tristan Stevens (3-0, 0.00) vs. South Carolina TBA
SUNDAY–Texas TBA vs. South Carolina TBA
THE MATCHUP—Texas and South Carolina meet for the second-consecutive season and the first time in Columbia. The Longhorns swept the series over the Gamecocks last year at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The two storied programs had previously only met in Omaha at the College World Series. The Longhorns defeated the Gamecocks twice during the 1975 College World Series, including in the title game. In 2002, Texas once again beat South Carolina in the College World Series final for the program's fifth national championship.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns are in the midst of playing seven games in nine days with six of the seven on the road. Texas split a pair of midweek games with Texas State to start this stretch. The pitching staff has been stellar, with a 1.79 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 126 innings pitched. The starting pitching has set the tone, combining for a 1.73 ERA with a 9-0 record and 63 strikeouts in 72.2 innings. Offensively the Longhorns are led by Murphy Stehly, batting .431 with 22 hits, seven RBI and eight runs scored. Ivan Melendez is the leading run producer with six doubles, one triple, four homers, 20 RBI and 14 runs scored. Douglas Hodo III and Eric Kennedy have done well at the top of the batting order. Hodo is batting .300 with five doubles, one homer and 15 runs scored, while Kennedy is batting .386 with three doubles, one triple, one homer and 16 runs scored.
TWO-OUT HITTING—Texas has had a knack for scoring runs with two outs this season, driving in 47% of its RBI with two outs. The Longhorns have 41 total two-out RBI of their 87 runs driven in. Trey Faltine leads the Longhorns with eight two-out RBI, while Ivan Melendez has seven and Douglas Hodo III has six. Conversely, the Texas pitching staff has been extremely tough with two outs and allowed just five two-out RBI this season and held opponents to a .181 batting average with two outs.
MARCH MADNESS—Texas Baseball starts the month of March with a tough stretch of 11 games in the first 16 days of the month. Making it even tougher, the majority of those games are away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, with 10 of 11 on the road. The Longhorns have handled the first half of that schedule pretty well with a 4-2 record heading into a week in South Carolina. Texas plays the weekend series at South Carolina before traveling to Charleston to face College of Charleston and The Citadel. The back end of the March schedule will be tough as well, starting Big 12 Conference play at Texas Tech, March 25-27, before hosting Texas A&M for a midweek game on March 29.
PRESEASON RANKINGS—Returning several key members from last season's team that went 50-17, Texas was unanimously selected Preseason No. 1. This marks the first time that Texas has appeared at No. 1 at any point in the D1Baseball Top 25, which began in 2015. It's the seventh time in the 42-year history of the Baseball America Top 25 that the Longhorns took the top preseason spot and first time since 2010. Texas is also ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA poll, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings and USA Today Baseball Coaches poll.
PRESEASON PICKS—In a vote of the league's head coaches, Texas was selected to finish first in the Preseason Big 12 Baseball Coaches' Poll. The Longhorns landed in the top spot in the poll for the ninth time overall and for the first time since 2010. LHP Pete Hansen was named the Big 12 Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year, leading seven total Longhorns on the Preseason All-Big 12 team. Tristan Stevens and Ivan Melendez were unanimous selections, while Silas Ardoin, Mitchell Daly, Trey Faltine and Aaron Nixon also landed on the team.
MORE NATIONAL ACCOLADES—Pete Hansen and Tanner Witt were named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List to lead a group of seven Longhorns earning national preseason recognition. Hansen and Ivan Melendez were both named first team Preseason All-American by NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball and second team by D1Baseball and Perfect Game. Aaron Nixon earned first team preseason honors from D1Baseball and NCBWA. Witt and Nixon, along with Trey Faltine and Tristan Stevens landed on the Collegiate Baseball preseason second team, joined by Mitchell Daly on the third team. Nixon was also named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS—It's an old adage that played out well in Texas' journey to a record 37th College World Series appearance in 2021. The Longhorns 2.93 ERA led the NCAA by nearly a quarter of a run and the Big 12 Conference by more than a run. Texas' .980 fielding percentage also led the Big 12 and was the 10th-best percentage in the nation. Through 14 games this season, the Longhorns have a 1.79 ERA and are fielding .985 with only eight errors.
INFIELD HIT MACHINE—Throughout his career on the Forty Acres, Eric Kennedy has used his speed as a means to get on base. With a bunt single during Opening Weekend, Kennedy now has 52 career infield singles (29 bunts). Last season he had 27 infield singles, including 16 bunt hits.
TITANIC—Ivan Melendez launched his fourth home run of the season at Texas State on March 8 to bring his career total at Texas to 17. His first titanic blast of the season was a "Monster Shot," making him the first player to clear the batter's eye in center field three times. Last season Melendez burst onto the scene with 13 homers, a .319 batting average and .603 slugging percentage. He also had a stretch in the month of April in which he homered in six-consecutive games.
THE SCHEDULE—The Longhorns play a challenging schedule in 2022 with 31 home games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field and 18 total games against teams that played in last season's NCAA Tournament. The month of March features a pair of marquee road weekends, as Texas played Tennessee, LSU and UCLA at the 2022 Shriners Children's College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, March 4-6. The Longhorns will also play at South Carolina, March 11-13, in Columbia.
FLASHING THE LEATHER—Trey Faltine has been a human highlight reel throughout his career, making the difficult look routine. Last season, the Longhorns shortstop led the Big 12 with 203 assists and ranked second with 40 double plays while sporting a .968 fielding percentage in 308 chances.
COMMANDING THE ZONE—Tristan Stevens' command has been outstanding start to the season, winning all three of his starts and not allowing a run in 19 innings pitched. He's struck out 14 batters and issued just two walks, while holding hitters to a .188 batting average. Pete Hansen has been great as well, allowing only one run in 17 innings and leading the team with 21 strikeouts.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT—Texas struck gold last season with the addition of graduate transfer Mike Antico from St. John's. The outfielder became the first Longhorn and first player in Big 12 history to hit 10 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. This season the Longhorns will hope for a big contribution from grad transfer Skyler Messinger from Kansas. Last season he led Kansas in batting average (.324), games played (56), games started (56), at bats (213), runs (43), hits (69), doubles (19), RBI (39) and slugging percentage (.460).
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. This season fans will also hear analysis from Longhorn greats Keith Moreland, Ty Harrington and Nathan Thornhill throughout the season.
WATCH 'EM—Nearly 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 for 29 of the 31 games. Games 2 and 3 of the TCU series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field will both be televised on ESPNU.
