The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
No. 7 Baseball preview: at Kansas State
04.13.2022 | Baseball
The Longhorns head back on the road for a Big 12 Conference series at Kansas State.
#7 TEXAS (25-10, 5-4) vs. KANSAS STATE (15-16, 1-8)
April 14-16, 2022
Where: Tointon Family Stadium
Time: Thursday at 6 p.m.; Friday at 6 p.m.; Saturday at 4 p.m.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: kstate.statbroadcast.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 60-20-1
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY–Texas LHP Pete Hansen (6-0, 2.08) vs. K-State RHP Griffin Hassall (3-4, 4.25)
FRIDAY–Texas RHP Tristan Stevens (4-3, 4.15) vs. K-State RHP Blake Adams (3-4, 4.12)
SATURDAY–Texas LHP Lucas Gordon (2-1, 2.63) vs. K-State RHP Connor McCullough (3-1, 3.66)
THE MATCHUPS—The Longhorns head back on the road for a Big 12 Conference series at Kansas State over Easter weekend. Texas leads the all-time series 60-20-1, including a 23-9 mark in Manhattan. The Longhorns' last series in Manhattan was in 2018, with the Wildcats winning two-of-three. Last season, Texas swept Kansas State in Austin.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas has started the month of April with a 6-2 record after going just 11-8 in March. The Longhorns offense leads the Big 12 with a .320 batting average and 57 home runs, while the pitching staff leads the league with a 3.47 ERA and six shutouts. Defensively the Longhorns are second in the league with a .983 fielding percentage, which ranks seventh nationally.
BOMB SQUAD—Through the first 35 games this season Texas has launched 57 home runs, the most in the Big 12 and the 11th most nationally. Last season Texas hit 68 homers in 67 games, the third most by a Longhorn team ever. Texas has 16 multiple-homer games, including eight three-homer games and three four-homer games. Ivan Melendez leads the nation with 16 homers, which surpasses his total from last season. Trey Faltine and Murphy Stehly each have 10 bombs.
TITANIC—Ivan Melendez has surpassed his home run total from last season with 16 bombs, upping his career total at Texas to 29. He now ranks in the top 10 at Texas in career home runs. The 16 homers this season are currently the most in the country. Melendez also ranks in the top-10 nationally in total bases (1st), base on balls (11th), slugging percentage (4th) and RBI (5th). He is second on the team, batting .389 and leads the team with a 1.378 OPS. Three of Melendez's home runs this season have cleared the batter's eye in center field, making him the first player to hit four career "Monster Shots."
MURPH DOG—Murphy Stehly has been unstoppable this season, batting .430 and leading the nation with 61 total hits and raking third with 107 total bases. Stehly also has 14 doubles, one triple and 10 homers. He has a hit in all but two games and has 19 games with multiple hits, including just the sixth three-homer game in Texas Baseball history. He is currently riding a 19-game hitting streak, tied for the fifth-longest in program history. His versatility has also been on display, playing first base, second base, third base and right field throughout the season.
SWEET PETE—Pete Hansen is the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week after throwing his first career complete game shutout. Against TCU he allowed just two hits and one walk in his nine innings on the mound. He's struck out 12 batters in back-to-back starts, one shy of his career high. For the season, Hansen leads the Big 12 with six wins and a total of 52 innings pitched. He ranks third in the league with a 2.08 ERA and 64 strikeouts, while his opponents batting average of .178 ranks second. His career earned run average of 1.74 ranks third among active players.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT—Texas struck gold last season with the addition of graduate transfer Mike Antico from St. John's. The outfielder became the first player in Big 12 history to hit 10 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. This season the Longhorns added grad transfer Skyler Messinger from Kansas and he has produced. The similarities have been striking, as both players had a slow start to their Texas careers. Through Antico's first 26 games last season, he was batting just .202 before going on to bat .273 and landing on the All-Big 12 second team. For Messinger, he was batting just .192 after his first 16 games but over his last 16 games he has raised his batting average up to .364. He has also been great defensively at third base with only one error in 81 defensive chances this season.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas closed out a five-game homestand at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field, where the Longhorns have a 14-3 record this season. Through the first 30 games of the season, Texas played a total of 18 games away from home and only 12 games at home. Of the final 25 regular season games, the Longhorns play 18 of them at home and just seven on the road. According to the NCAA's Strength of Schedule rating, Texas has the 10th toughest schedule to this point.
TWO-OUT HITTING—Texas has had a knack for scoring runs with two outs this season, driving in 41% of its RBI with two outs. The Longhorns have 107 total two-out RBI of their 263 runs driven in. Ivan Melendez not only leads the team with 50 RBI, but leads the team lead with 21 two-out RBI. Douglas Hodo III has 17, while Murphy Stehly has 12, Trey Faltine has 11 and Eric Kennedy and Mitchell Daly have 10. Conversely, the Texas pitching staff has been tough with two outs and held opponents to a .228 batting average with two outs.
MARCH MADNESS—Texas Baseball started 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 were away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, with 10 of 11 on the road. The road was grueling and the Longhorns started the month with a 6-5 record. The back end of the March schedule was tough as well, starting Big 12 Conference play by dropping the series at Texas Tech before falling to Texas A&M for a midweek game. In all, Texas went 11-8 in the month of March 13 games away from home.
INFIELD HIT MACHINE—Throughout his career on the Forty Acres, Eric Kennedy has used his speed as a means to get on base. With four infield singles (three bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 55 career infield singles (31 bunts). Last season he had 27 infield singles, including 16 bunt hits.
OWN THE DISCH—A large part of the Longhorns success under head coach David Pierce has come down to dominating at home. Since 2017 Texas has produced a 136-36 (.791) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 14-3 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1567-396-3 at home for a .798 winning percentage. The fan base has also done a great job of making the Disch a difficult place to play. Through the first 17 home games this season Texas is averaging 6,913 fans in attendance, which would be a program record. With the exception of last season's limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas has led the Big 12 in attendance for 15-consecutive seasons.
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. This season, the Longhorns rank 15tg nationally with a 3.47 ERA and are seventh fielding .983.
FLASHING THE LEATHER—Trey Faltine and Mitchell Daly have formed an incredible middle infield duo, anchoring the top defense in the Big 12 with a .983 fielding percentage. This season, Faltine leads the league with 108 assists and Daly is second with 103. Last season Faltine led the Big 12 with 203 assists, while Daly was second with 178.
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.
