The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Louisiana
Baseball preview: NCAA College Station Regional
05.30.2024 | Baseball
The Longhorns open NCAA postseason play against Louisiana on Friday at 5 p.m.
TEXAS at the NCAA COLLEGE STATION REGIONAL
May 31-June 3, 2023
Where: Blue Bell Park
Time: Friday at 5 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: AM-1300 The Zone/103.1 FM
Live stats: ncaa.statbroadcast.com
NCAA Tournament Appearances (last): 63rd (2023)
All-Time NCAA Regional Record: 154-57-1
THE MATCHUP—The Longhorns head into the NCAA College Station Regional and will face Louisiana on Friday. Texas holds a 34-8 record against the Ragin' Cajuns all-time and the teams meet for the second-consecutive season in an NCAA Regional opener. Texas and Texas A&M have only met five times in the NCAA postseason with the last postseason meeting in the 2022 College World Series. The Longhorns are 3-2 against the Aggies in NCAA postseason games. Texas and Grambling have only met once previously, in the 1985 NCAA Regional in Austin.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—Texas won its final six Big 12 Conference series to finish third in the league. The Longhorns won 13 of their final 16 regular season games, before going 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference Championship. In 57 games played, the Longhorns are batting .290 with 127 doubles and 109 home runs, while the pitching staff has a 4.87 ERA with 465 strikeouts in 508.0 innings pitched. The 109 homers are the second-most in program history following the 128 in 2022. Jared Thomas is the leading hitter with a .355 batting average with 15 doubles and 15 homers, while Max Belyeu holds the team lead with 18 homers.
MAX POWER—Max Belyeu was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year to lead a group of nine Longhorns named to the All-Big 12 teams. Belyeu is the fifth Texas player to win Big 12 Player of the Year and the first since Ivan Melendez in 2022. The sophomore from Aledo, Texas is hitting .349 with 15 doubles, and team highs of 18 homers and 53 RBI. Belyeu also leads the team with 15 multiple-RBI games this season.
ALL-BIG 12 HONORS—Texas landed nine players on the All-Big 12 teams, led by Big 12 Player of the Year Max Belyeu. Joining Belyeu on the first team are Jalin Flores, Jared Thomas and Gage Boehm. Peyton Powell landed on the second team, while Rylan Galvan, Will Gasparino, Max Grubbs and Ace Whitehead all received Honorable Mention honors. Gasparino was also named to the league's All-Freshman team.
BOMB SQUAD—With 109 home runs this season, Texas has hit 328 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. The Longhorns' 109 homers rank 17th 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 30 multiple-homer games this season, including two six-homer games, one five-homer game, eight four-homer games and six three-homer games.
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.
SNAKE FARM—Jared Thomas has been a mainstay at the top of the Texas batting order this season, starting all 57 games in the leadoff spot. In addition to being the team's leading hitter with a .355 batting average, he leads the team with 59 runs scored, 16 stolen bases and 25 multiple-hit games. Thomas also has a hit in 44 of the 57 games and has scored at least one run in 39 of the 57 contests. In the 18 games that Thomas has not scored a run, the Longhorns have a 6-12 record.
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 11 of the team's 12 saves, while both sporting sub-3.00 earned run averages. Boehm has posted five wins and eight saves to go with a 2.74 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched. Duplantier II has pitched in a team-high 27 games and posted a 2.95 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
NARROW MARGINS—The Longhorns have played several close games this season with 29 games decided by three runs or less. In those games decided by three runs or less, Texas has a 17-12 record and the Longhorns hold a 7-5 record in one-run ballgames. Texas did not find much success in close games early in the season before things changed in mid-April. Over their last 14 games decided by three-runs or less, the Longhorns have gone 11-3.
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.
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.
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.
