The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Air Force
No. 9 Baseball preview: NCAA Austin Regional
06.02.2022 | Baseball
The Longhorns open the NCAA Austin Regional against Air Force on Friday at 1 p.m.
TEXAS (42-19) at the NCAA AUSTIN REGIONAL
June 3-6, 2021
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Friday at 1 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: ncaa.statbroadcast.com
NCAA Tournament Appearances (last): 61 (2021)
All-Time NCAA Regional Record: 148-57-1
THE MATCHUPS—Texas heads into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 national seed and will host Louisiana Tech, Dallas Baptist and Air Force at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Texas will open the NCAA Austin Regional against Air Force. The Longhorns and Falcons faced off twice this season, splitting a pair of midweek games in April. Texas and Louisiana Tech have not met since the 2010 season and the Longhorns hold a 25-2 lead in the series. Texas leads the all-time series with Dallas Baptist, 46-8, but the teams have not played since the 2015 NCAA Dallas Regional.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns made a run to last week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship game before falling to Oklahoma. The championship game appearance was the Longhorns' first since 2017 and seventh overall. The Longhorns head into the postseason having won 11 of the last 14 games. Texas leads the Big 12 with a .315 team batting average and a program record 114 homers, while the pitching staff is first in the league with a 4.15 ERA. The Longhorns are also the nation's top fielding team with a .986 fielding percentage.
BOMB SQUAD—Texas has broken the program record for most home runs in a season, smashing 114 bombs in 61 games this season. The home run total leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally. Last season Texas hit 68 homers in 67 games, the fourth-most by a Longhorn team. The previous program record was 81, set in 2010. Texas has 31 multiple-homer games, including 11 three-homer games, six four-homer games and four five-homer games. Five different Longhorn players have hit 10-plus homers for the first time in program history.
EL REY—Ivan Melendez became Texas Baseball's home run king with his 29th blast of the season, surpassing Kyle Russell's 28 homers in 2007 for the program record. With his incredible season so far Melendez was named the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year, the fourth Longhorn to win the award following Brooks Kieschnick (1993), Scott Bryant (1989) and Greg Swindell (1986). Melendez leads the country with 29 homers, a .903 slugging percentage and 196 total bases. He ranks second nationally with 87 RBI, fourth with a .522 on-base percentage and eighth with a .406 batting average. He became the fourth Longhorn to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year and the first since Kody Clemens in 2018. Melendez, also a unanimous First Team All-Big 12 selection, now has 42 career home runs, which is the third-most in a career at Texas.
ALL-AMERICANS—Ivan Melendez was named to the Collegiate Baseball All-America First Team, while Pete Hansen and Murphy Stehly were named to the second team. Hansen was also named as one of five finalists for the College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year award. Hansen is 10-1 this season with a 3.01 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 92 2/3 innings pitched. He has only walked 16 batters and held opponents to a .208 batting average against. Stehly is batting .377 with 21 doubles, 17 homers and 54 RBI. His 92 hits this season rank seventh nationally, while his 166 total bases are the 13th most in the country.
ALL-BIG 12 HONORS—Ivan Melendez led a total of nine players named to All-Big 12 teams this season. Catcher Silas Ardoin, outfielder Murphy Stehly and starting pitcher Pete Hansen joined Melendez on the first team. Infielders Trey Faltine and Skyler Messinger and starting pitcher Lucas Gordon landed on the second team. Outfielder Douglas Hodo III and designated hitter Austin Todd were named Honorable Mention.
MURPH DOG—Murphy Stehly has had an outstanding season at the plate, batting .377, ranking seventh in the nation with 92 total hits and 13th with 166 total bases. Stehly also has 21 doubles, one triple and 17 homers. He has a hit in 52 of his 60 games played and has 27 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.
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 played but over his last 43 games he has raised his batting average up to .353. Messinger has hit 10 home runs this season, after having just six in his four years at Kansas. He has also been great defensively at third base with only three errors in 148 defensive chances this season.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas has gone 24-7 this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. During the regular season, Texas played a total of 31 games at home and 25 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorns closed out the regular season with 14 of the final 18 games at home and produced a 13-5 record to end the regular season. In home games, Texas has a team batting average of .338 and a .989 fielding percentage. The Longhorns have also averaged 6,796 fans in attendance at home this season, the fifth-highest average attendance in the country.
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 145-40 (.784) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 24-7 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1577-400-3 at home for a .797 winning percentage. The fan base has also done a great job of making the Disch a difficult place to play. In 31 home games this season Texas averaged 6,796 fans in attendance, which is 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.
BACK-TO-BACK JACKS—Texas has hit back-to-back home runs on 10 different occasions this season. The power-hitting duo of Ivan Melendez and Murphy Stehly have gone back-to-back four times. The Longhorns have also hit three-straight homers in a game this season, on May 1 against Oklahoma State.
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 .986 fielding percentage. This season, Daly leads the Big 12 lead with 179 assists, while Faltine is second with 167. 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 six infield singles (three bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 57 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.
