The Horns are back at the Disch this weekend as they continue their 14 game homestand, this time against the New Orleans Privateers (11-6). The Privateers out of the Southland Conference come in after having had an interesting week in which they were blasted (16-0) on Tuesday night by #1 LSU Tigers and having swept an inferior Mississippi Valley State squad. Normally few pundits would take note of a matchup between New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State, it did make national news and not because the Saturday night game ended after 7 innings with a score of 35-3. No, the college baseball world was treated to the finest of all umpire calls when the home plate ump took umbrage that he be questioned on a very questionable strike call below the knees and responded by ringing the guy up on the next pitch that was hilariously low and outside. I have seen some bad calls at home, but WOW!
Regardless of what occurred between New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State, the Horns are riding a 7 game win streak and would love to turn that into a 10 game win streak at the conclusion of the weekend. Once again the Horns will face a Friday night starting pitcher who is a lefty. In fact, the Saturday night pitcher is a lefty as well. SHOCKING! No matter who is on the mound though, the Horns need to come through with a series win at a minimum to keep up momentum and to stack wins prior to what looks to be a grueling Big 12 Conference season. With an RPI that is in the 100's and a SOS that isn't any better, the Horns do not have a lot of leeway in their non-conference slate. Wins, no matter how ugly MATTER!
The good news for the Horns is that some of the players have turned the proverbial corner and have had much better at-bats and plate appearances. Peyton Powell is essentially this year's Murphy Stehly and EK has stayed hot in the lead off spot, giving the Horns an on base threat. Players like Jack O'Dowd and Mitch Daly have looked much better and more comfortable at the plate recently which is great news for the Horns and even a guy like freshman Jared Thomas has been very patient and more mature in his at-bats.
Pitching wise, Charlie Hurley and Heston Tole continue to chew up innings and put up zeroes while freshman Max Grubbs and redshirt freshman Cody Howard have both been solid in their limited appearances. If the Horns can get LHP Chris Stuart going out of the pen, they will have a nice mix of youth and experience to bolster the front line starters.
This weekend, weather could absolutely play a factor with chances of rain and highs projected to be in the mid to low 50s all weekend long. New Orleans has played a solid brand of ball defensively and the Horns should not expect a bunch of kangaroo memes by @AaronLittleOB after errors from the Privateers. Offensively, New Orleans has solid power throughout the lineup, though they have played a soft schedule. The bottom of the lineup does have a tendency to swing and miss at a good clip though, so the Horns will need to ensure they command the zone well. Garret Guillemette and Rylan Galvan likely won't have to worry about runners attempting to steal this weekend as New Orleans is only 6 of 12 on the season.
Matchup:
Date: March 17-19
Time: 630pm; 230pm; 1pm CST
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: LHN
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Record:
Texas: 11-7 (0-0 Big 12)
New Orleans: 11-6 (0-0 Southland)
RPI:
Texas - 119
New Orleans - 152
SOS:
Texas - 139
New Orleans - 238
Privateers Season to Date:
Series Matchup:
Pitching Matchups:
Players to Watch for the Privateers:
Top Relievers:
Look at the numbers:
Batting Average:
Texas - .271
New Orleans - .310
On-Base%:
Texas - .795
New Orleans - .935
Slugging%:
Texas - .423
New Orleans - .521
Home Runs:
Texas - 16
New Orleans - 25
Walks:
Texas - 88
New Orleans - 88
ERA:
Texas - 3.11
New Orleans - 5.98
WHIP:
Texas - 1.30
New Orleans - 1.63
Errors:
Texas - 19
New Orleans - 10
Predictions:
Look around the Big 12 (Record and Weekend Opponents):
College Baseball Series to Watch:
Texas will honor 2005 national champion pitcher and current head coach of reigning state champion Sinton HS, Adrian Alaniz on Saturday. One of my favorite pitchers that has come through the program and an all around amazing man. He is absolutely deserving of all the recognition!
Regardless of what occurred between New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State, the Horns are riding a 7 game win streak and would love to turn that into a 10 game win streak at the conclusion of the weekend. Once again the Horns will face a Friday night starting pitcher who is a lefty. In fact, the Saturday night pitcher is a lefty as well. SHOCKING! No matter who is on the mound though, the Horns need to come through with a series win at a minimum to keep up momentum and to stack wins prior to what looks to be a grueling Big 12 Conference season. With an RPI that is in the 100's and a SOS that isn't any better, the Horns do not have a lot of leeway in their non-conference slate. Wins, no matter how ugly MATTER!
The good news for the Horns is that some of the players have turned the proverbial corner and have had much better at-bats and plate appearances. Peyton Powell is essentially this year's Murphy Stehly and EK has stayed hot in the lead off spot, giving the Horns an on base threat. Players like Jack O'Dowd and Mitch Daly have looked much better and more comfortable at the plate recently which is great news for the Horns and even a guy like freshman Jared Thomas has been very patient and more mature in his at-bats.
Pitching wise, Charlie Hurley and Heston Tole continue to chew up innings and put up zeroes while freshman Max Grubbs and redshirt freshman Cody Howard have both been solid in their limited appearances. If the Horns can get LHP Chris Stuart going out of the pen, they will have a nice mix of youth and experience to bolster the front line starters.
This weekend, weather could absolutely play a factor with chances of rain and highs projected to be in the mid to low 50s all weekend long. New Orleans has played a solid brand of ball defensively and the Horns should not expect a bunch of kangaroo memes by @AaronLittleOB after errors from the Privateers. Offensively, New Orleans has solid power throughout the lineup, though they have played a soft schedule. The bottom of the lineup does have a tendency to swing and miss at a good clip though, so the Horns will need to ensure they command the zone well. Garret Guillemette and Rylan Galvan likely won't have to worry about runners attempting to steal this weekend as New Orleans is only 6 of 12 on the season.
Matchup:
Date: March 17-19
Time: 630pm; 230pm; 1pm CST
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: LHN
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Record:
Texas: 11-7 (0-0 Big 12)
New Orleans: 11-6 (0-0 Southland)
RPI:
Texas - 119
New Orleans - 152
SOS:
Texas - 139
New Orleans - 238
Privateers Season to Date:
- Kennesaw State (1-3)
- Southern Mississippi (0-1)
- Jackson State (1-0)
- Florida A&M (1-0)
- Alabama State (1-0)
- Tulane (1-0)
- Brown (3-0)
- South Alabama (0-1)
- Southern (1-0)
- Mississippi Valley State (3-0)
- LSU (0-1)
Series Matchup:
- Texas holds an 11-1 advantage all time over the Privateers, including a 10-1 advantage in Austin
- The Horns swept the Privateers in 2017 and then took 2 of 3 back in 2018
Pitching Matchups:
- Fri - Texas LHP Lucas Gordon (1-0, 1.77) v. LHP Tyler LeBlanc (2-1, 3.68)
- 90-92mph fastball, quality breaking ball and changeup
- Sat - Texas RHP Travis Sthele (1-2, 5.40) v. LHP Brandon Mitchell (3-1, 3.15)
- High 80's fastball with quality breaking ball
- Sun - Texas TBD v. RHP Collin Horton (2-1, 5.75)
- Horton was a teammates with Texas alum Ivan Melendez at Odessa College. Horton was a freshman and Melendez was a sophomore that season
- You might notice that RHP Zane Morehouse is not listed as a starter on Saturday and Sunday is TBD - this very well could be in preparation of RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr into the weekend rotation for the Texas Tech series or it could be because on Wednesday, his bullpen day, Morehouse came in and got the save against North Dakota State.
Players to Watch for the Privateers:
- Tristan Moore (.450 BA, 1.325 OPS, 4 HRs, .825 SLG%)
- Tyler Bischke (.418 BA, 1.234 OPS, 3 HRs, .691 SLG%)
- Kasten Furr (.369 BA, .919 OPS, 1 HR, .492 SLG%)
- Jorge Tejeda (.348 BA, 1.424 OPS, 4 HRs, .957 SLG%)
Top Relievers:
- RHP Beau Blanchard (0-1, 7.88 ERA, 2 saves)
- 92-93 mph fastball, good slider and changeup
- Connor Macip (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 save)
- Trey Usey (0-0, 0.93 ERA, 2 saves)
- Maldonado (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves)
Look at the numbers:
Batting Average:
Texas - .271
New Orleans - .310
On-Base%:
Texas - .795
New Orleans - .935
Slugging%:
Texas - .423
New Orleans - .521
Home Runs:
Texas - 16
New Orleans - 25
Walks:
Texas - 88
New Orleans - 88
ERA:
Texas - 3.11
New Orleans - 5.98
WHIP:
Texas - 1.30
New Orleans - 1.63
Errors:
Texas - 19
New Orleans - 10
Predictions:
- @ZachattheDisch: 2-1
- I need to see Texas sweep a team that does not throw 17 balls in a row or commit a bazillion errors before I can predict them to sweep at this juncture
- @AaronLittleOB: 3-0
- "I like what I am seeing at the plate"
Look around the Big 12 (Record and Weekend Opponents):
- #22 Texas Tech (16-3): Red Raiders open up conference play by hosting #12 Oklahoma State
- #12 Oklahoma State (15-3): Pokes travel to Lubbock to open up conference play against #22 Texas Tech
- Kansas State (12-5): Wildcats travel to Waco to open up conference play against Baylor
- West Virginia (12-5): Mountaineers travel to play an away series against UNC Greensboro as they continue their fine run of form
- Oklahoma (11-6): Sooners host TCU in Norman to open up conference play
- Texas (11-7): Horns welcome New Orleans for the final out of conference series before conference play
- #11 TCU (9-7): The Horn Frogs look to get back on track after a tough week as they open up Big 12 play in Norman against the Sooners
- Kansas (7-8): The Jayhawks continue their painful Carolinas trip as they play three games against The Citadel
- Baylor (6-11): The Bears open up conference play when they host Kansas State in Waco this weekend
College Baseball Series to Watch:
- #3 Ole Miss v. #6 Vanderbilt
- #25 Southern Miss v. Texas State
- #1 LSU v. #15 Texas A&M
- #5 Florida v. #24 Alabama
- #9 Stanford v. Oregon State
- #12 Oklahoma State v. #22 Texas Tech
- #14 Virginia v. #23 NC State
Texas will honor 2005 national champion pitcher and current head coach of reigning state champion Sinton HS, Adrian Alaniz on Saturday. One of my favorite pitchers that has come through the program and an all around amazing man. He is absolutely deserving of all the recognition!
