TEXAS (31-16) vs. HOUSTON BAPTIST (18-27)
May 3, 2022
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: https://texassports.com/sidearmstats/baseball Â
All-time series: Texas leads, 6-0
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
TUESDAY–Texas RHP Zane Morehouse (1-0, 4.15) vs. Houston Baptist RHP Daxton Tinker (0-4, 7.62)
THE MATCHUPS—Texas and Houston Baptist meet for the first time since 2012. The Longhorns are 6-0 against the Huskies with all six meetings coming in Austin. Houston Baptist is coached by former Rice All-American and 15-year MLB veteran, Lance Berkman. During his time at Rice from 1995-97, the Owls and Longhorns played 11 times with Texas holding a 6-5 advantage.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS—The Longhorns look to get back on track after a weekend sweep by No. 8 Oklahoma State. Texas leads the Big 12 with a .320 team batting average and 86 homers, while the pitching staff is second in the league with a 4.32 ERA. The Longhorns are the league's top fielding team with a .984 fielding percentage.
BOMB SQUAD—Texas has broken the program record for most home runs in a season, smashing 86 bombs in 47 games this season. The home run total leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally. Last season Texas hit 68 homers in 67 games, the third most by a Longhorn team. Texas has 23 multiple-homer games, including 10 three-homer games, five four-homer games and two five-homer games.
HOME SWEET HOME—Texas has gone 18-7 this season at the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Through the first 47 games of the season, Texas has played a total of 25 games at home and 22 games away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Of the final nine regular season games, the Longhorns play six of them at home and just three on the road. In home games, Texas has a team batting average of .329 and a .988 fielding percentage. The Longhorns have also averaged 6,885 fans in attendance at home this season, the fifth-highest average attendance in the country.
TITANIC—Ivan Melendez is second nationally with 22 home runs this season, the third-most ever hit by a Texas player in a single season. Melendez now has 35 career home runs, which surpasses Kody Clemens (2016-18) for the third-most in a career at Texas. Melendez also ranks in the top-5 nationally in slugging percentage (2nd), total bases (2nd), RBI (4th) and on-base percentage (4th). He also leads the team, batting .411 with a 1.424 OPS. Three of Melendez's home runs this season have cleared the batter's eye in center field, making him the first player to hit four career "Monster Shots."
MURPH DOG—Murphy Stehly has had an outstanding season at the plate, batting .384, ranking sixth in the nation with 73 total hits and 13th with 127 total bases. Stehly also has 16 doubles, one triple and 12 homers. He has a hit in all but six games and has 22 games with multiple hits, including just the sixth three-homer game in Texas Baseball history. He had a 20-game hitting streak earlier this season, which is tied for the fourth-longest in program history. His versatility has also been on display, playing first base, second base, third base and right field throughout the season.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT—Texas struck gold last season with the addition of graduate transfer Mike Antico from St. John's. The outfielder became the first player in Big 12 history to hit 10 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. This season the Longhorns added grad transfer Skyler Messinger from Kansas and he has produced. The similarities have been striking, as both players had a slow start to their Texas careers. Through Antico's first 26 games last season, he was batting just .202 before going on to bat .273 and landing on the All-Big 12 second team. For Messinger, he was batting just .192 after his first 16 games but over his last 28 games he has raised his batting average up to .364. He has also been great defensively at third base with only two errors in 123 defensive chances 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 140-40 (.778) record at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including an 18-7 mark this season. Since the stadium opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1571-400-3 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. Through the first 25 home games this season Texas is averaging 6,885 fans in attendance, which would be a program record. With the exception of last season's limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas has led the Big 12 in attendance for 15-consecutive seasons.
FLASHING THE LEATHER—Trey Faltine and Mitchell Daly have formed an incredible middle infield duo, anchoring the top defense in the Big 12 with a .984 fielding percentage. This season, Daly leads the league with 139 assists and Faltine is second with 136. Last season Faltine led the Big 12 with 203 assists, while Daly was second with 178.
INFIELD HIT MACHINE—Throughout his career on the Forty Acres, Eric Kennedy has used his speed as a means to get on base. With four infield singles (three bunt) this season, Kennedy now has 55 career infield singles (31 bunts). Last season he had 27 infield singles, including 16 bunt hits.
MARCH MADNESS—Texas Baseball started the month of March with a tough stretch of 11 games in the first 16 days of the month. Making it even tougher, the majority of those games were away from UFCU Disch-Falk Field, with 10 of 11 on the road. The road was grueling and the Longhorns started the month with a 6-5 record. The back end of the March schedule was tough as well, starting Big 12 Conference play by dropping the series at Texas Tech before falling to Texas A&M for a midweek game. In all, Texas went 11-8 in the month of March with 13 games away from home.
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.
