The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#6 West Virginia
Baseball preview: No. 6 West Virginia
05.17.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns will close out the regular season at home against the Mountaineers.
TEXAS vs. WEST VIRGINIA
May 18-20, 2023
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Thursday at 6:30 p.m.; Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:30 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 (5-1, 2.71) vs. WVU LHP Carson Estridge (3-0, 3.75)
FRIDAY–Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (6-2, 2.76) vs. WVU RHP Blaine Traxel (7-4, 3.23)
SATURDAY–Texas RHP Tanner Witt (1-1, 13.50) vs. WVU TBA
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns will close out the regular season against West Virginia at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Texas trails the all-time series against the Mountaineers but have won the series last two series, last season in Morgantown and in 2021 in Austin.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas is batting .299 as a team with 74 homers, while the pitching staff leads the Big 12 and ranks 16th nationally with a 4.12 ERA. The Texas pitching staff is ranked first in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally with 8.07 hits allowed per nine innings but ranks sixth in the league with 4.43 walks allowed per nine innings.
DC MAKES HISTORY—Dylan Campbell is riding the longest hitting streak in Texas Baseball history and tied for the second-longest in Big 12 history at 30 games. He broke the previous Texas record of a 25-game hitting streak by Michael Torres in 2008. Campbell's hitting streak started on March 25 against Texas Tech but he's been scorching hot for even longer, with at least a hit in 39 of the last 42 games. He has also reached base safely in 36-striaght games. During the historic streak, Campbell is hitting .402 with 11 doubles, two triples, five homers, 27 RBI, 32 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown has had a productive season after transferring from TCU and is batting .325, with 12 doubles and nine home runs. 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. 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.
POW!—Peyton Powell has had a breakout season for the Longhorns and is the team's leading hitter with a .360 batting average, 15 doubles, nine homers and 39 RBI. Powell burst onto the scene during the 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.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas holds a 25-8 record this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 33 home games, the Longhorns are hitting .320 and fielding .982, while the pitching staff has a 3.62 ERA. In the 20 games played away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Texas holds an 10-10 record and is batting .266 with a .974 fielding percentage. Of the Longhorns' 41 errors as a team this season, 19 of them have come in the 20 games away from home.
NARROW MARGINS—The Longhorns have played several close games this season with 30 games decided by three runs or less. In those games decided by three runs or less, Texas has a 16-14 record and the Longhorns hold a 6-8 record in one-run ballgames. 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. Fourteen of the Longhorns' 18 losses have been by three runs or less and eight of the defeats have been by one run.
G-WAGON—Catcher Garret Guillemette has batted in the cleanup spot for Texas most of the season and has been productive, batting .330 with a team-high 44 RBI and 41 runs scored. He's also caught the majority of the games with 34 starts behind the plate. Through the first 21 games of the year Guillemette still had not hit a homer but now has 11 over the last 32 games, including a walk-off blast to complete the sweep against Texas Tech.
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 174-48 (.784) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 25-8 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1605-408-3 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 6,700 fans per game, the sixth-highest average attendance in the country.
EK—Eric Kennedy holds the team lead with 30 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles and a team-high 15 home runs. The fifth-year outfielder is batting .324 with 43 RBI and 51 runs scored. In addition to his power display, he also leads the team with 22 infield hits and 11 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 22 infield singles (11 bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 80 career infield singles (42 bunts). In 2021, Kennedy had a career-best 27 infield singles (16 bunts).
MIDWEEK WINS—In seven seasons under head coach David Pierce, the Longhorns have had success in midweek games. Since 2017, Texas has gone 72-19 (.791) in midweek games including a 12-2 record this season.
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.
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.
