The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
No. 21 Baseball preview: Kansas State
04.05.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns host the Wildcats for a Big 12 Conference series over Easter weekend.
#21 TEXAS vs. KANSAS STATE
April 6-8, 2023
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Thursday at 6:30 p.m.; Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 12 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: https://texassports.com/sidearmstats/baseball
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY–Texas LHP Lucas Gordon (2-0, 2.04) vs. K-State LHP Owen Boerema (4-1, 3.89)
FRIDAY–Texas RHP Travis Sthele (2-3, 4.96) vs. K-State RHP German Fajardo (1-1, 5.24)
SATURDAY–Texas TBA vs. K-State TBA
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns host a Big 12 Conference series against Kansas State, Thursday through Saturday over the Easter Weekend. Texas owns a 61-22-1 record all-time against the Wildcats and holds a 34-11-1 advantage in Austin. Last season, the Longhorns dropped the series in Manhattan, winning on Sunday to avoid the sweep. Texas swept the series the last time the teams played in Austin in 2021.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas had its 16-game winning streak snapped last weekend and dropped the series to Oklahoma State on a Sunday walk-off. The Longhorns finished the month of March with a 17-2 record and won the final 16 games. During the month of March, Texas hit .318 with 32 home runs and outscored opponents 154-74. The Texas pitching staff, which has been the team's strength through the first 30 games, has a 3.32 ERA and is holding opposing hitters to a .228 batting average with 282 strikeouts this season.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown picked up the March 27 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 28 RBI and is second on the team with six home runs and nine doubles.
POW!—Peyton Powell had a great 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. For the season, Powell leads the Longhorns with a .366 batting average and has six doubles, six homers, 21 RBI and 23 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 167-42 (.799) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including an 18-2 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1598-402-3 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 an 18-2 record this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 20 home games, the Longhorns are hitting .308 and fielding .981, while the pitching staff has a 3.10 ERA. Texas hitters have also walked more times than they have struck out in home games, with 104 walks to 101 strikeouts. In the 10 games played away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Texas holds a 3-7 record and is batting .230 with a .965 fielding percentage. The Longhorns are also averaging 6,609 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.
NARROW MARGINS—The Longhorns have played several close games this season and have a 10-8 record in games decided by three runs or less. 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 three times. Eight of the Longhorns' nine losses have been by three runs or less and five of the defeats have been by one run.
G-WAGON—Garret Guillemette has batted in the cleanup spot for Texas most of the season and has been productive, batting .296 with 22 RBI and 21 runs scored. He's also caught the majority of the games with 19 starts behind the plate. Through the first 21 games of the year Guillemette still had not hit a homer but now has five over the last nine games, including the walk-off blast to complete the sweep against Texas Tech.
EK—Eric Kennedy holds the team lead with 18 extra-base hits, including team-highs with 10 doubles and seven home runs. The fifth-year outfielder is batting .336 with 22 RBI and 28 runs scored. In addition to his power display, he also leads the team with 12 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 12 infield singles (five bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 70 career infield singles (36 bunts). In 2021, Kennedy had a career-best 27 infield singles (16 bunts).
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.
TraDISCHions—Texas will honor its history throughout the 2023 season as part of the Saturday TraDISCHion series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. For the second-consecutive season the Longhorns are celebrating past greats every Saturday, and this week will be David Denny (1982-85). Denny holds the program records for career hits, doubles and runs batted in. A four-year starter for the Longhorns from 1982-85, Denny compiled 296 total hits, including 78 doubles and drove in 228 runs. He was a two-time All-Southwest Conference player in 1984 and 1985 and was a First Team All-American in 1984. This season Texas has already honored OF Dustin Majewski (2002-03), OF Drew Stubbs (2004-06), Adrian Alaniz (2005-07) and RHP Kirk Dressendorfer.
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.
