The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas
No. 20 Baseball preview: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
05.23.2023 | Baseball
The Longhorns open the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed against Kansas.
TEXAS at the PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
May 24-28, 2023
Where: Globe Life Field
Time: Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.; Thursday at TBD
TV: ESPNU/ESPN+
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: Big12.Statbroadcast.com
Big 12 Championship Titles (Last): 5 (2015)
Big 12 Championship Record: 46-35
THE MATCHUPS—The Longhorns head into the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship as the No. 1 seed for the ninth time and will face No. 8 seed Kansas. The Longhorns won the series over the Jayhawks earlier this month. Texas has won the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship five times, with the last win coming in 2015 in Tulsa, Okla. Last season, Texas reached the final but came up short against Oklahoma.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas won its 10th Big 12 Championship on Saturday, clinching a share of the regular season championship with a sweep of West Virginia. The Longhorns are riding a five-game winning streak into the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Texas is batting .302 as a team with 83 homers, the second-most in program history. The pitching staff leads the Big 12 and ranks 12th nationally with a 4.06 ERA, while the defense ranks first in the Big 12 and 14th nationally.
DC MAKES HISTORY—Dylan Campbell is riding the longest hitting streak in Texas Baseball history and the second-longest in Big 12 history at 33 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 42 of the last 45 games. He has also reached base safely in 39-striaght games. During the historic streak, Campbell is hitting .415 with 13 doubles, three triples, seven homers, 31 RBI, 38 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.
BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR—Lucas Gordon was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, posting a 2.48 ERA and a 6-1 record in 15 appearances (14 starts) this season. Gordon has struck out 85 batters in 83.1 innings pitched, while also holding hitters to a .210 batting average against. Gordon is the Longhorns' second Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in the last three seasons after Ty Madden won the award in 2021.
ALL-BIG 12 HONORS—LHP Lucas Gordon led a group of eight Longhorn players named to the All-Big 12 teams. C Garret Guillemette, OF Porter Brown, OF Dylan Campbell, and RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. joined Gordon on the first team. The five first team selections were the most for any team in the league. INF Peyton Powell landed on the second team, while OF Eric Kennedy and INF Jared Thomas received honorable mention honors. Thomas was also recognized on the All-Freshman team.
DOWNTOWN PORTER BROWN—Porter Brown has had a productive season after transferring from TCU and is batting .337, with 12 doubles and 12 home runs. Brown etched himself into the Texas Baseball record book by becoming the seventh Longhorn to hit three home runs in a game, against West Virginia on May 18. He also picked up the March 27 Big 12 Player of the Week award after helping the Longhorns sweep Texas Tech. 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 .369 batting average, 15 doubles, 10 homers and 43 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.
SNAKE FARM—Jared Thomas is having an outstanding freshman campaign, batting .341 with 13 doubles, three triples, four homers, 26 RBI and 48 runs scored. He has batted in the leadoff spot over the last 13 games and Texas has gone 10-3 during that stretch. Thomas' season started to turn the corner in early April and over the last 22 games he is batting .470 with seven doubles, three triples, three homers and 32 runs scored.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas holds a 28-8 record this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In the 36 home games, the Longhorns are hitting .323 and fielding .983, while the pitching staff has a 3.57 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 .317 with a team-high 58 RBI and 42 runs scored. He's also caught the majority of the games with 37 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 35 games, including a walk-off blast to complete the sweep against Texas Tech.
EK—Eric Kennedy holds the team lead with 31 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles and a team-high 16 home runs. The fifth-year outfielder is batting .313 with 45 RBI and 53 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.\
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 177-48 (.787) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a 28-8 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1608-408-3 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 6,729 fans per game, the sixth-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.
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.
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