Musings from the Disch:
Since Texas Baseball has adopted the Horns football helmet as their HR celebration, I am going to quote two Texas football coaches and sit back and laugh manically as everyone's head collectively explodes. "Winning is hard!"
The good news is that Texas went on the road and won the series on the road. The bad news is that Texas was not able to sweep. At the end of the day though, no one should have been predicting a sweep on the road against a West Virginia team that has not been swept this season. The Mountaineers won the series at TCU and escaped with a win against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State both. While Texas fans should be disappointed in the fact that the Horns did not sweep, understand that a team backed into a corner on a Sunday is a dangerous thing and this is college baseball, anyone can win on any given day.
All that said, the Horns got past the largest remaining hurdle that was on their schedule to try and salvage a Top 16 seed, winning a tough Big 12 series on the road. Texas plays Tuesday night against Texas Southern and then has the week off as the players will finish up exams and get a final break before the end of the season. Texas will then return to the field against a tough Sam Houston ball club on the 17th of May before wrapping up conference play and the regular season at home against Kansas. IF Texas can go 5-0 in that stretch and then win a first round game (likely against OU) in the Big 12 tourney, they will be sitting at 40 wins on the season and firmly on the bubble for a Top 16 seed. If Texas can do something even crazier and beat Okie State in the 2nd round and enact some revenge, that would solidify them as one of the Top 16 seeds.
Useless Stat of the Day:
I will keep saying it until it happens but just give Ivan Melendez the Golden Spikes. He leads or is at the top in nearly every offensive category and for a pretty quiet guy, he is just a lot of fun to watch. For those that really need a stat, 6. That is the number of wins needed to get Texas to 40 wins on the season.
Mid-week Preview:
Texas (34-17, 11-10) v. Texas Southern (24-20, 15-9)
Texas Longhorns host the Texas Southern University Tigers on Tuesday night. This is the 7th meeting all time between the two schools, with Texas winning the first six of them. The last meeting was back in 2019 where Texas beat Texas Southern 17-3. While Texas Southern is 24-20 on the season, only 16 of those wins have come against Division 1 schools. The Tigers lead the nation in stolen bases by a very very wide margin, making nuns everywhere blush and scream Do Not Run in the Hallways! Heck, the Tigers don't just lead the nation in stolen bases, they lead #2 West Virginia by 56 stolen bases. For those counting, that is just two less stolen bases than Texas has even attempted all year long. Keep that arm warm Silas/Schuessler! The Tigers fielding is a bit of a different story and if I described LSU's defense (.960) as little league, well I guess I have to do the same for Texas Southern (.957). That is not good and does not bode well coming to a park like Disch-Falk. From an RPI perspective, this would be better if it was rained out, but I do like the fact that we get to watch college baseball and that a smaller team gets their chance to come and play one of the "blue bloods" of the sport. It is what makes college baseball special in that manner because unlike football for the most part, you never know what is going to happen, especially as Texas Southern comes in on an 8 game win streak.
**Interesting note - Texas Southern has not played a mid-week game since facing Kansas on a Tues/Wed back on April 19th and 20th.
When: May 10th at 630pm CST
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: LHN
Radio: 104.9
Horns v. Tigers Stats:
RPI: 16 v 286
SOS: 24 v 300
ELO: 23 v 259
BA: .316 v .317
OPS: .969 v .941
SB: 44/58 v 195-230
ERA: 4.28 v 6.53
WHIP: 1.26 v 1.73
Fielding: .985 v .957
Texas Southern Top Hitters (BA / OPS / SLG):
Probably Pitching Matchups:
Texas Fr. LHP Luke Harrison (0-0, 3.08) v. TSU TBA
I don't think Texas Southern will throw one of their weekend starters out there with a huge weekend series against Grambling State looming, but here are some guys we might see.
Common Opponents:
Big 12 Recap:
Big 12 Weekend Series Ahead:
Big 12 Rankings:
Big 12 RPI/SOS:
Top 25 (D1 Baseball Poll)
Top 36 RPI:
Since Texas Baseball has adopted the Horns football helmet as their HR celebration, I am going to quote two Texas football coaches and sit back and laugh manically as everyone's head collectively explodes. "Winning is hard!"
The good news is that Texas went on the road and won the series on the road. The bad news is that Texas was not able to sweep. At the end of the day though, no one should have been predicting a sweep on the road against a West Virginia team that has not been swept this season. The Mountaineers won the series at TCU and escaped with a win against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State both. While Texas fans should be disappointed in the fact that the Horns did not sweep, understand that a team backed into a corner on a Sunday is a dangerous thing and this is college baseball, anyone can win on any given day.
All that said, the Horns got past the largest remaining hurdle that was on their schedule to try and salvage a Top 16 seed, winning a tough Big 12 series on the road. Texas plays Tuesday night against Texas Southern and then has the week off as the players will finish up exams and get a final break before the end of the season. Texas will then return to the field against a tough Sam Houston ball club on the 17th of May before wrapping up conference play and the regular season at home against Kansas. IF Texas can go 5-0 in that stretch and then win a first round game (likely against OU) in the Big 12 tourney, they will be sitting at 40 wins on the season and firmly on the bubble for a Top 16 seed. If Texas can do something even crazier and beat Okie State in the 2nd round and enact some revenge, that would solidify them as one of the Top 16 seeds.
Useless Stat of the Day:
I will keep saying it until it happens but just give Ivan Melendez the Golden Spikes. He leads or is at the top in nearly every offensive category and for a pretty quiet guy, he is just a lot of fun to watch. For those that really need a stat, 6. That is the number of wins needed to get Texas to 40 wins on the season.
Mid-week Preview:
Texas (34-17, 11-10) v. Texas Southern (24-20, 15-9)
Texas Longhorns host the Texas Southern University Tigers on Tuesday night. This is the 7th meeting all time between the two schools, with Texas winning the first six of them. The last meeting was back in 2019 where Texas beat Texas Southern 17-3. While Texas Southern is 24-20 on the season, only 16 of those wins have come against Division 1 schools. The Tigers lead the nation in stolen bases by a very very wide margin, making nuns everywhere blush and scream Do Not Run in the Hallways! Heck, the Tigers don't just lead the nation in stolen bases, they lead #2 West Virginia by 56 stolen bases. For those counting, that is just two less stolen bases than Texas has even attempted all year long. Keep that arm warm Silas/Schuessler! The Tigers fielding is a bit of a different story and if I described LSU's defense (.960) as little league, well I guess I have to do the same for Texas Southern (.957). That is not good and does not bode well coming to a park like Disch-Falk. From an RPI perspective, this would be better if it was rained out, but I do like the fact that we get to watch college baseball and that a smaller team gets their chance to come and play one of the "blue bloods" of the sport. It is what makes college baseball special in that manner because unlike football for the most part, you never know what is going to happen, especially as Texas Southern comes in on an 8 game win streak.
**Interesting note - Texas Southern has not played a mid-week game since facing Kansas on a Tues/Wed back on April 19th and 20th.
When: May 10th at 630pm CST
Where: Disch-Falk Field
TV: LHN
Radio: 104.9
Horns v. Tigers Stats:
RPI: 16 v 286
SOS: 24 v 300
ELO: 23 v 259
BA: .316 v .317
OPS: .969 v .941
SB: 44/58 v 195-230
ERA: 4.28 v 6.53
WHIP: 1.26 v 1.73
Fielding: .985 v .957
Texas Southern Top Hitters (BA / OPS / SLG):
- Jeremy Gaines .408 / 1.136 / .627 (24/29 SB)
- Tyrese Clayborne .386 / 1.072 / .600 (29/37 SB)
- Johnathon Thomas .361 / 1.101 / .651 (52/60 SB)
Probably Pitching Matchups:
Texas Fr. LHP Luke Harrison (0-0, 3.08) v. TSU TBA
I don't think Texas Southern will throw one of their weekend starters out there with a huge weekend series against Grambling State looming, but here are some guys we might see.
- Lane Gordon (3-1, 6.03 ERA)
- Adolf Castillo (2-0, 6.10 ERA)
- Kobe Head (0-1, 5.63 ERA)
- Josiah Castro (2-4, 6.69 ERA)
Common Opponents:
- UT-RGV (lost two games)
- Sam Houston (lost three games)
- Kansas (lost two games)
Big 12 Recap:
- Texas showed its best self and its worst self over the weekend in winning a weekend series against West Virginia. While there are many frustrated that Texas did not sweep, remember that WVU has not been swept by anyone this season. Not by TCU, not by Okie State and not by Tech, so winning 2 of 3 on the road is a big deal for Texas and not just in terms of Big 12 outlook but also for national RPI and rankings. This series win keeps the hopes alive for a Top 16 seed and subsequent regional host.
- As always, check out some excellent writing and recaps by @AaronLittleOB - Weekend Recap
- Okie State hosted a tough SEMO team and beat them up in non-conference action
- TCU hosted OU and a week after losing two games to Florida State, the Frogs lose a series to OU which ends their Top 16 seed dreams
- Kansas State took two of 3 from Kansas and if only momentarily has pulled itself one spot higher and into safety of making the Big 12 Tourney
Big 12 Weekend Series Ahead:
- #1 Okie State v. #3 Texas Tech
- #2 TCU at #9 KU
- #4 Oklahoma v. #5 West Virginia
- #7 Kansas State v. #8 Baylor
- #6 Texas - idle
Big 12 Rankings:
- Oklahoma State (13-5)
- TCU (13-8)
- Texas Tech (11-7)
- Oklahoma (11-7)
- West Virginia (10-8)
- Texas (11-10)
- Kansas State (6-12)
- Baylor (5-13
- Kansas (4-14)
Big 12 RPI/SOS:
- Oklahoma State (3/20)
- Texas (16/24)
- Oklahoma (32/17)
- TCU (36/23)
- West Virginia (39/38)
- Texas Tech (47/88)
- Baylor (73/13)
- Kansas State (100/86)
- Kansas (146/87)
Top 25 (D1 Baseball Poll)
- Tennessee (42-6) - Vols finally lost a SEC series, as they lost the first two to Kentucky but avoided the sweep
- Oregon State (38-9) - Beavers looked extremely impressive against foe Oregon, beating them on Tues and then sweeping them this weekend
- Oklahoma State (34-13) - Pokes looked very good beating up on a solid SEMO club
- Arkansas (36-12) - Lost to Missouri State mid-week but bounced back with a solid series win over Auburn
- Virginia Tech (33-10) - beat Villanova twice
- Miami (35-12) - Swept North Dakota State
- Louisville (33-13-1) - Beat Vandy mid-week and then split the first two games of the series against Wake Forest but ended up with a tie due to time on a travel day
- Stanford (29-14) - Swept UC Davis in non-conference play
- Texas Tech (32-16) - Raiders were idle this weekend but played an entertaining hitting game against ACU mid-week
- Texas A&M (30-16) - Another series win for Aggies, this time over South Carolina who blew a 9 run lead...
- Gonzaga (29-13) - beat Washington in mid-week
- Virginia (34-12) - beat VCU in mid-week
- Connecticut (40-8) - swept Creighton and won the Big East in the process
- Southern Miss (36-12) - They have played themselves out of a Top 8 and if they continue to drop games will play themselves out of a Top 16 as well
- Texas State (38-11) - senior laden team just keeps winning.
- Notre Dame (28-10) - idle
- LSU (32-15) - Tigers won on Sunday to win the series at Alabama. Tigers continue to lock in a Top 16 seed
- Maryland (37-10) - Terps won mid-week and have split the first two games against Rutgers with the series finale today
- UC Santa Barbara (33-11) - Beat Pepperdine mid-week and then took 2 of 3 against UC Irvine
- Auburn (32-16) - Lost 2 of 3 to top ranked Arkansas in an entertaining matchup this past weekend
- Florida State (28-17) - Seminoles continue their up and down season losing to Stetson mid-week and then taking 2 of 3 against Boston College
- Texas (34-17) - welcome back to the poll Horns
- UCLA (30-17) - woof. Bruins lost mid-week and got swept by Washington ending any hope of Top 8 and possibly Top 16 as well
- Vanderbilt (31-15) - Lost mid-week to Louisville and then took 2 of 3 at Georgia in a big series win
- Grand Canyon (33-16) - welcome to the poll Lopes! - Beat Arizona mid-week and then took 2 of 3 against Sacramento State
- Georgia Tech (27-21) - got swept by mercurial Clemson
- Georgia (32-16) - lost 2 of 3 against Vandy at home
- TCU (28-18) - A week after losing 2 against FSU, Frogs drop 2 of 3 against OU at home
Top 36 RPI:
- Tennessee
- Oregon State
- Oklahoma State
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia Southern
- Dallas Baptist
- Miami
- Virginia Tech
- Georgia
- Auburn
- Notre Dame
- Florida
- Louisville
- Virginia
- Southern Miss
- Texas
- LSU
- Clemson
- Oregon
- Arkansas
- Wofford
- Maryland
- Wake Forest
- Texas A&M
- Florida State
- Gonzaga
- North Carolina
- Stanford
- Georgia Tech
- UC Santa Barbara
- North Carolina State
- Oklahoma
- Mercer
- Grand Canyon
- Connecticut
- TCU
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