The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Southern
Baseball preview: Texas Southern
04.24.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns close out a five-game homestand against Texas Southern on Tuesday.
TEXAS vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN
April 25, 2023
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: https://texassports.com/sidearmstats/baseball
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
TUESDAY–Texas RHP DJ Burke (0-0, 1.77) vs. Texas Southern TBA
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns close out a five-game homestand against Texas Southern. Texas holds a 13-0 record against the Tigers all-time, with all 13 games played in Austin. Last season, the Longhorns hit a season-high seven doubles and finished with 17 total hits to beat the Tigers 12-1.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas looks to bounce back from being swept for the first time this season. The Longhorns are batting .283 as a team with 51 homers, while the pitching staff leads the Big 12 and ranks 12th nationally with a 3.80 ERA. The Texas pitching staff is ranked first in the Big 12 and 13th nationally with 7.60 hits allowed per nine innings but ranks sixth in the league with 4.62 walks allowed per nine innings.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown has been productive for the Longhorns after transferring from TCU, leading Texas with a .342 batting average and 38 RBI. He is also tied for the team lead with eight homers and tied for second with 11 doubles. He picked up the March 27 Big 12 Player of the Week award after helping the Longhorns sweep Texas Tech. That 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.
POW!—Peyton Powell is the Longhorns' second-leading hitter with a .331 batting average, 11 doubles, seven homers and 31 RBI. Powell had a breakout month of March, starting all 19 games and picking up at least one hit in 16-of-19, with multiple hits in 11 of them. 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 170-47 (.783) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 21-7 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1601-407-3 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. 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. This season the Longhorns are averaging 6,741 fans per game, the sixth-highest average attendance in the country.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas holds a 21-7 record this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 28 home games, the Longhorns are hitting .300 and fielding .982, while the pitching staff has a 3.49 ERA. In the 14 games played away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Texas holds a 6-8 record and is batting .251 with a .973 fielding percentage. Of the Longhorns' 29 errors as a team this season, 14 of them have come in the 14 games away from home.
NARROW MARGINS—The Longhorns have played several close games this season with 27 games decided by three runs or less. In those games decided by three runs or less, Texas has a 14-13 record. Texas has a pair of walk-off wins this season at UFCU Disch-Falk Field but have also been on the wrong end of a walk-off four times. Thirteen of the Longhorns' 15 losses have been by three runs or less and eight of the defeats have been by one run.
MIDWEEK WINS—In seven seasons under head coach David Pierce, the Longhorns have had success in midweek games. Since 2017, Texas has gone 70-19 (.787) in midweek games including a 10-2 record this season.
G-WAGON—Catcher Garret Guillemette has batted in the cleanup spot for Texas most of the season and has been productive, batting .319 with a 37 RBI and 31 runs scored. He's also caught the majority of the games with 26 starts behind the plate. Through the first 21 games of the year Guillemette still had not hit a homer but now has seven over the last 21 games, including the walk-off blast to complete the sweep against Texas Tech.
EK—Eric Kennedy holds the team lead with 21 extra-base hits, including team-highs with 12 doubles and eight home runs. The fifth-year outfielder is batting .317 with 26 RBI and 37 runs scored. In addition to his power display, he also leads the team with 19 infield hits and nine 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 19 infield singles (10 bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 77 career infield singles (41 bunts). In 2021, Kennedy had a career-best 27 infield singles (16 bunts).
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.
GOIN' STREAKIN'—Texas put together a 16-game winning streak from March 7 to March 31, tied for the 16th-longest winning streak in program history. During the winning streak, Texas outscored opponents 141 to 61 and batted .326 with 34 doubles and 27 home runs. The pitching staff had a 3.31 ERA and held opponents to a .226 batting average. The last 16-game winning streak came in 2021 and was also ended by Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME—As part of the Longhorns' 16-game winning streak, Texas took down a pair of in-state rivals with a sweep of Texas Tech and a win over Texas A&M in College Station. The sweep of the Red Raiders was the first since 2007 and just the fourth clean sweep of Tech in the last 30 years. The win in College Station was the first since 2011 and snapped a four-game losing streak at Olsen Field.
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.
