The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas
No. 25 Baseball preview: Kansas
05.15.2024 | Baseball
The Longhorns close out the regular season with a Big 12 Conference series against Kansas.
#25 TEXAS vs. KANSAS
May 16-18, 2024
Where: UFCU Disch-FalkField
Time: Thursday at 6:30 p.m.; Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: AM-1300 The Zone/103.1 FM
Live stats: Texas.Statbroadcast.com
All-time series: Texas leads, 60-30
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY–Texas RHP Charlie Hurley (5-0, 6.14) vs. Kansas RHP Reese Dutton (7-4, 3.50)
FRIDAY–Texas RHP Max Grubbs (4-4, 3.70) vs. Kansas RHP Dominic Voegele (7-2, 3.55)
SATURDAY–Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (2-4, 5.82) vs. Kansas TBA
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns close out the regular season with a three-game series against Kansas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Texas leads the all-time series with the Jayhawks, 60-30 and holds a 33-10 advantage in Austin. The Longhorns have won three-straight series over the Jayhawks, including sweeps in 2021 and 2022.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas heads into the weekend following a fifth-consecutive Big 12 Conference series win and eighth league series win overall. The Longhorns are batting .290 with 117 doubles and a Big 12 Conference leading 103 home runs, while the pitching staff has a 4.94 ERA with 419 strikeouts in 463.0 innings pitched. The 103 homers are the second-most in program history following the 128 in 2022. Jared Thomas is the leading hitter with a .359 batting average with 15 doubles and 14 homers, while Max Belyeu and Jalin Flores share the team and Big 12 Conference lead with 17 homers.
ONE-TWO PUNCH—Jared Thomas and Peyton Powell have been mainstays at the top of the Texas batting order this season. Thomas has a hit in 40 of the 52 games and has also scored at least one run in 35 of the 52 contests. In the 17 games that Thomas has not scored a run, the Longhorns have a 5-12 record. Powell has a hit in 42 of the 52 games and is tied for third on the team with 41 RBI.
BOMB SQUAD—With 103 home runs this season, Texas has hit 322 bombs combined over the last three seasons. The Longhorns hit a program record 128 homers in 2022 and followed that up with 91 in 2023. The next-most homers by Texas in a three-year stretch was 196 from 1986-88. The Longhorns have also hit more homers in the last three seasons than in the previous eight seasons combined, with 319 from 2014-21. Texas is currently on pace to hit 109 home runs during the 55-game regular season schedule. The Longhorns' 99 homers ranks 10th nationally this season.
MORE HOME RUN HISTORY—The Longhorns tied a program record twice this season with six home runs in a game, first against UTA on April 23 and at Oklahoma on April 28. There have now been six times that a Texas team has hit six homers in a game and the first since April 25, 1998 at Missouri. The Longhorns now have 26 multiple-homer games this season, including two six-homer games, one five-homer game, eight four-homer games and six three-homer games.
MAX POWER—Outfielder Max Belyeu is having a breakout sophomore season, launching 17 home runs this season. In the March 24 win over Baylor, Belyeu tied a program record by hitting three homers. The eighth Longhorn to go deep three times in a game, Belyeu hit two solo shots before launching a grand slam. Belyeu also has a pair of two-homer games this season against UTA on April 25 and at Oklahoma on April 28. The Aledo, Texas product has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice this season.
THE GRAND SLAM MAN—Dating back to the end of the last season, Jalin Flores hit three grand slams over a 12-game span. His first career grand slam was in the NCAA Regional Final last season against Miami to help Texas advance to the Super Regional. This season Flores hit a game-winning grand slam on Opening Day and then launched his second against St. John's on Feb. 27. Flores is not the only Longhorn to go deep with the bases loaded this season, as Rylan Galvan, Will Gasparino (2), Max Belyeu and Jared Thomas all have hit grand slams this season.
THE STOPPERS—Relief pitchers Gage Boehm and Andre Duplantier II have both been reliable arms at the back-end of games this season. The duo have accounted for 10 of the team's 11 saves, while both holding hitters below a .200 batting average. Over his last 14 outings (since March 19), Boehm has allowed just four runs and struck out 29 batters in 29.2 innings pitched with four wins and five saves. In the same timeframe, Duplantier has pitched 16 times and struck out 27 batters in 25 innings with a win and two saves.
FIFTIETH SEASON AT THE DISCH—Texas is in the midst of its 50th season at UFCU Disch-Falk Field after the facility opened in 1975. The first game at The Disch was played on Feb. 17, 1975 with the eventual National Champions sweeping a doubleheader of St. Mary's. Texas will officially celebrate 50 years of Disch-Falk Field and the 50th anniversary of the 1975 National Championship team during the 2025 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 198-60 (.767) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1629-420-3 at home for a .795 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 7,472 fans per game, the fifth-highest average attendance in the country.
PRESEASON HONORS—Lebarron Johnson Jr. picked up plenty of preseason praise, being named Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year as well as landing on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. OF Porter Brown joined Johnson on the Preseason All-Big 12 team as well as picking up some Preseason All-America recognition. Freshman OF Will Gasparino was also named Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year.
PRESEASON PICKS—In a vote of the league's head coaches, Texas was selected to finish second in the Preseason Big 12 Baseball Coaches' Poll. The Longhorns sit behind preseason favorite TCU, who received 11 first place votes. Texas picked up the other two first place votes to finish second. Last season, Texas won the Big 12 regular season championship after being picked fourth in the preseason poll.
DRAFT WINS AND LOSSES—Texas lost five players to the 2023 MLB Draft but also got five key players back for the 2024 season. The Longhorns biggest losses in the draft were 4th round selection Dylan Campbell and sixth-rounder Lucas Gordon. OF Porter Brown and INF Peyton Powell were not selected though and will lead the offense this season, while Charlie Hurley, Lebarron Johnson Jr. and Tanner Witt are expected to play big roles on the mound. OF Will Gasparino making it to the Forty Acres was also a big win for the program.
HEAR 'EM—In partnership with Learfield IMG College, Texas games will be broadcast on the Longhorn Radio Network, primarily on AM 1300 The Zone. 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—Nearly 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 34 home games.
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