The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Cal State Fullerton
Baseball preview: at Cal State Fullerton
03.02.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns face their first true road games of the season against the Fullerton Titans.
TEXAS AT CAL STATE FULLERTON
March 3-5, 2023
Where: Goodwin Field
Time: Friday at 8 p.m. CT; Saturday at 7 p.m. CT; Sunday at 2 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY–Texas LHP Lucas Gordon (0-0, 0.84) vs. Cal State Fullerton LHP Tyler Stultz (1-1, 5.00)
SATURDAY–Texas RHP Zane Morehouse (1-0, 4.00) vs. Cal State Fullerton RHP Trevor Hinkel (0-1, 9.35)
SUNDAY–Texas RHP Travis Sthele (0-2, 3.12) vs. Cal State Fullerton TBA
THE MATCHUP—Texas heads on the road for its first true road games of the season, taking on Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series at Goodwin Field. The Longhorns lead the all-time series with the Titans 20-17 but lost the only two previous match-ups in Fullerton in 1995 and 2003. Texas and Cal State Fullerton are among the top-10 winningest programs in college baseball history and are two of the seven programs with four or more national titles.
COMMON THREAD—Texas and Cal State Fullerton share a common thread as the great Augie Garrido led both programs to national championships. Garrido won national titles in 1979, 1984 and 1995 while at Fullerton and in 2002 and 2005 with Texas. In 21 seasons under Garrido's guidance, the Titans won a total of 929 games. Garrido then led the Longhorns to 824 wins in 20 seasons to bring his career wins total to 1,975, the second-most all-time.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns feature several new faces on the roster and coaching staff as they look to advance to the College World Series for a third-straight season. On the coaching staff, Steve Rodriguez will work with the hitters and infielders while Woody Williams will coach the pitchers. The roster features 10 freshmen and nine transfers that will compete for several key roles after the Longhorns lost seven everyday starters in the lineup and two experienced starting pitchers. Outfielders Eric Kennedy and Dylan Campbell and infielder Mitchell Daly are the most experienced position players on the roster. Lucas Gordon returns to the pitching the staff after being named second team All-Big 12 last season. The Longhorns could also see the return of Tanner Witt to the mound after missing most of last season.
CALI CONNECTIONS—Texas has five players from the state of California, including three transfers from California schools. Junior LHP Lucas Gordon (Los Angeles) is the longest tenured Cali native on the roster. INF Tanner Carlson (Elk Grove/Long Beach State), C Garret Guillemette (Yorba Linda/USC) and RHP Charlie Hurley (Sacramento/USC) all transfered to Texas this season and INF Cade O'Hara (Tustin) is a true freshman. Additionally, assistant coach Steve Rodriguez has deep ties to California, having played and coached at Pepperdine.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown has made an immediate impact after transferring from TCU. The redshirt junior is second on the team with a .286 batting average and eight hits, while leading the Longhorns with eight RBI and three home runs. Brown also has the biggest hit of the season thus far, a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning against Indiana on Feb. 24. In parts of four seasons at TCU, Brown batted .286 with 20 doubles, nine home runs, 63 RBI and 83 runs scored. He also stole 25 bases during his time at TCU, including eight in each of the last two seasons.
UPCOMING HOMESTAND—Following the trip out west, Texas will return home for a 14-game homestand at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The three-week stretch of home games begins on March 7 against Sam Houston and concludes with the opening Big 12 series against Texas Tech on March 24-26. This will be the longest Texas homestand in more than 20 years and the longest since the Longhorns hosted 13-straight games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in 2011. The last time Texas had a longer homerstand was in 2001, when Texas played 21-straight home games from February 6 to March 13. This will be the program's eighth homestand of at least 10 games since 2001.
THE TRANSFERS—The Longhorns have seven transfers from Division I programs that hope to make an immediate impact, including outfielder Porter Brown (TCU), infielder Tanner Carlson (Long Beach State), catcher Garrett Guillemette (USC), RHP Cody Howard (Baylor) RHP Charlie Hurley (USC), LHP David Shaw (Rice) and RHP Heston Tole (Arkansas). Additionally RHP DJ Burke and LHP Chris Stuart transferred from San Jacinto College.
THE SCHEDULE—The 2023 schedule features 36 home games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field after opening the season at the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington. In Big 12 play, the Longhorns will host Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oklahoma and West Virginia and will travel to Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU and Kansas. Texas also had a marquee midweek match up at home, welcoming LSU to UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Feb. 28.
INFIELD HIT MACHINE—Throughout his career on the Forty Acres, Eric Kennedy has used his speed as a means to get on base. With three infield singles (three bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 61 career infield singles (34 bunts). In 2021, Kennedy had a career-best 27 infield singles, including 16 bunt hits.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas went 27-7 last season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. During the regular season, Texas played a total of 34 games at home and 30 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In home games, Texas had a team batting average of .340 and a .990 fielding percentage. The Longhorns also averaged a program record 6,918 fans in attendance at home last season, the fifth-highest average attendance in the country.
PRESEASON HONORS—Two Longhorn pitchers Lucas Gordon and Tanner Witt were named to the All-Big 12 Preseason team. Last season Gordon went 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 85.2 innings after moving into the weekend rotation. Witt made two starts on the mound in the 2022 season before undergoing season ending surgery. He finished with a 2-0 record, a 1.64 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched.
ROOKIES—Several freshmen will play big roles this season, including infielders Jalin Flores (San Antonio) and Jared Thomas (Waxahachie). Flores is likely to start at third base on Opening Day, while Thomas is expected to be the Longhorns starting first baseman. Additionally, infielders Jayden Duplantier and Cade O'Hara, catcher Rylan Galvan, outfielder Max Belyeu, and pitchers Kobe Minchey, Max Grubbs and Pierce George could all find significant playing time.
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 all 36 home games.
