The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UTRGV
No. 10 Baseball preview: at UTRGV
04.25.2022 | Baseball
The Longhorns travel to UTRGV for the first time since 1971.
#10 TEXAS (30-13) vs. UTRGV (23-16)
April 26, 2022
Where: UTRGV Baseball Stadium
Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: goutrgv.com/sidearmstats/baseball
All-time series: Texas leads 53-6
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
TUESDAY–Texas RHP Zane Morehouse (0-0, 3.45) vs. UTRGV LHP Randy Garza (1-0, 0.87)
THE MATCHUPS—Texas travels to UTRGV for the first time since 1971, when the Vaqueros won 3-of-4 over the Longhorns. The 1971 season marks the only time Texas has played in Edinburg. UTRGV went 5-1 overall against Texas that season, with two wins in the NCAA District 6 Tournament to advance to the program's only College World Series. The Longhorns hosted the Vaqueros earlier this month, winning 13-5.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns enter the week on a four-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 58-19 during the streak. Trey Faltine got the streak started on Wednesday, hitting a ninth-inning walk-off homer against Air Force. Texas leads the Big 12 with a .321 team batting average and 78 homers, while the pitching staff leads the league with a 3.95 ERA and six shutouts. The Longhorns also are the league's top fielding team with a .984 fielding percentage.
BOMB SQUAD—Through the first 43 games this season Texas has launched 78 home runs, the most in the Big 12 and the 5th most nationally. The program record for homers in a season is 81, set by the 2010 team. Last season Texas hit 68 homers in 67 games, the third most by a Longhorn team. Texas has 21 multiple-homer games, including nine three-homer games, four four-homer games and two five-homer games.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas has gone 18-4 this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Through the first 43 games of the season, Texas has played a total of 22 games at home and 21 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Of the final 13 regular season games, the Longhorns play nine of them at home and just four on the road. In home games, Texas has a team batting average of .339 and a staff ERA of 3.36.
TITANIC—Ivan Melendez is tied for the national lead with 21 home runs this season, the third-most ever hit by a Texas player in a single season. Melendez now has 34 career home runs, which ties Kody Clemens (2016-18) for the fourth-most in a career at Texas. Melendez also ranks in the top-10 nationally in total bases (1st), slugging percentage (1st), RBI (4th) and on-base percentage (7th). He is second on the team, batting .401 and leads the team with a 1.434 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 .408, ranking second in the nation with 71 total hits and sixth with 125 total bases. Stehly also has 16doubles, one triple and 12 homers. He has a hit in all but three games and has 21 games with multiple hits, including just the sixth three-homer game in Texas Baseball history. He had a 20-game hitting streak earlier this season, which is tied for the fourth-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 was the back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the after tossing a gem against Oklahoma before throwing his first career complete game shutout against TCU. Against the Horned Frogs he allowed just two hits and one walk in his nine innings on the mound. For the season, Hansen leads the Big 12 with seven wins and ranks second with 63.1 innings pitched. He ranks third in the league with a 2.70 ERA, 76 strikeouts and a .197 opponents batting average. His career earned run average of 2.00 ranks 5th among active NCAA Division I 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 24 games he has raised his batting average up to .365. He has also been great defensively at third base with only one error in 112 defensive chances this season.
TWO-OUT HITTING—Texas has had a knack for scoring runs with two outs this season, driving in 40% of its RBI with two outs. The Longhorns have 132 total two-out RBI of their 330 runs driven in. Ivan Melendez not only leads the team with 61 RBI, but leads the team lead with 24 two-out RBI. Douglas Hodo III has 18, while Trey Faltine has 16, Murphy Stehly has 14 and Skyler Messinger has 11. Conversely, the Texas pitching staff has been tough with two outs and held opponents to a .211 batting average with two outs and only 45 two-out RBI allowed.
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 with 13 games away from home.
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 140-37 (.791) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including an 18-4 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1571-397-3 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 22 home games this season Texas is averaging 6,848 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 lead the Big 12 with a 3.95 ERA and are second nationally fielding .984.
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 .984 fielding percentage. This season, Daly leads the league with 127 assists and Faltine is second with 124. Last season Faltine led the Big 12 with 203 assists, while Daly was second with 178.
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.
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.
