The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 21 Baseball preview: at Texas A&M
03.27.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns head on the road for the first time in three weeks to take on the Aggies.
#21 TEXAS at TEXAS A&M
March 28, 2023
Where: Blue Bell Park
Time: Tuesday at 6 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: 12thman.com/sidearmstats/baseball
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
TUESDAY–Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (2-1, 2.96) vs. Texas A&M LHP Shane Sdao (0-0, 2.35)
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns head on the road for the first time in three weeks to take on Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park on Tuesday. Texas leads the all-time series with the Aggies, 244-130-5 dating back to 1903. The Aggies have won four-straight games in the series and the last Texas win came in the 2018 NCAA Regional. The Longhorns also have not won in College Station since 2011, dropping their last four at Olsen Field.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is riding the nation's longest active winning streak at 14 games, outscoring opponents 131-56 over the 14 games. During the streak, Texas is hitting .325 as a team with 31 doubles and 25 homers. Over the first 11 games of the season, the Longhorns went just 4-7 and batted .235 as a team with only 10 homers. The Texas pitching staff, which has been the team's strength through the first 25 games, has a 3.40 ERA and is holding opposing hitters to a .229 batting average with 249 strikeouts this season.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown picked up the Big 12 Player of the Week award after helping the Longhorns sweep Texas Tech. For the week, Brown batted .615 and provided the game-winning runs in two of the three games. On Friday night, he provided a go-ahead two-run homer and on Saturday he led off the ninth with a double and scored on a wild pitch to end the game. The redshirt junior leads the Longhorns with 25 RBI and is second on the team with a .360 batting average and six home runs.
POW!—Peyton Powell has had a great month of March, starting all 17 games and picking up at least one hit in 14-of-17, with multiple hits in 10 of them. For the season, Powell leads the Longhorns with a .397 batting average and has six doubles, five homers, 19 RBI and 20 runs scored. His versatility has also been beneficial, as he has played first base, third base and catcher this season.
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 166-42 (.798) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 17-2 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1597-402-3 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. With the exception of the 2021 season because of limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas has led the Big 12 in attendance for 15-consecutive seasons.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas holds a 17-2 record this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 19 home games, the Longhorns are hitting .309 and fielding .980, while the pitching staff has a 3.21 ERA. Texas hitters have also walked more times than they have struck out in home games, with 99 walks to 98 strikeouts. In the six games played away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Texas holds a 1-5 record and is batting .218 with a .959 fielding percentage. The Longhorns are also averaging 6,619 fans per game, the fifth-highest average attendance in the country.
THE HOMESTAND—Texas took full advantage of its longest homestand in more than 20 years, going 14-0 and outscoring opponents 131-56. The full homestand spanned a three-week stretch starting on March 7 and concluding with the opening Big 12 series against Texas Tech March 24-26. This was 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 homestand was in 2001, when Texas played 21-straight home games from February 6 to March 13. This was the program's eighth homestand of at least 10 games since 2001.
EK—Eric Kennedy is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak and leads the team with 11 multiple-hit games and six multiple-RBI games. This season Kennedy leads Texas with 10 doubles, seven homers and is second with 21 RBI and 23 runs scored. In addition to his power display, he also leads the team with seven infield hits and five bunt singles this season.
INFIELD HIT MACHINE—Throughout his career on the Forty Acres, Eric Kennedy has used his speed as a means to get on base. With seven infield singles (five bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 65 career infield singles (36 bunts). In 2021, Kennedy had a career-best 27 infield singles (16 bunts).
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.
THE TRANSFERS—The Longhorns' seven Division I transfers have all played a role through the first part of the season, especially outfielder Porter Brown (TCU), catcher Garrett Guillemette (USC), RHP Charlie Hurley (USC) and LHP David Shaw (Rice). Infielder Tanner Carlson (Long Beach State), RHP Cody Howard (Baylor) and RHP Heston Tole (Arkansas) have also all featured at some point. Additionally RHP DJ Burke and LHP Chris Stuart transferred from San Jacinto College and have been involved out of the bullpen.
ROOKIES—Several freshmen will play big roles this season, including infielders Jayden Duplantier (Humble), Jalin Flores (San Antonio), Jared Thomas (Waxahachie) and catcher Rylan Galvan (Sinton) who all have started multiple games. Additionally, infielder Cade O'Hara, outfielder Max Belyeu, and pitchers Kobe Minchey, Max Grubbs and Pierce George could still make an impact this season.
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—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.
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 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 and Texas also travels to College Station for a midweek game against Texas A&M on March 28.
