Horns v. Jayhawks - The FINAL Big 12 series for the Longhorns
Horns look to win their 9th conference series as they host the Kansas Jayhawks for final Big 12 series of the season and for the Horns, the final regular conference series prior to heading to the SEC.
Coming into the series, the Horns are currently tied for 3rd place in the Big 12 with West Virginia, both of whom are just ½ game back from Oklahoma State. Currently the Horns appear to be locked into a 2 seed, so the biggest thing for the Horns is to try and lock in a minimum of a 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Kansas is 7-3 on their last 10 and are a sneaky tough opponent with solid front-line pitching and a tough group of hitters that don’t hit for a lot of power but have a high number of doubles and a solid walk to hit ratio.
The Jayhawks did not have to play Oklahoma or Oklahoma State this season, skewing their Big 12 conference record to a degree. In addition, KU is just 3-6 against the t 6 teams in conference and 12-6 against the bottom 6 in conference play. That said, KU is not a team that the Horns can take lightly due to the ability of their starters to go deep into games and grind.
Overall, I expect this weekend to be a tough series for the Horns playing against a team that pitches well and hits well. The one area of concern for the Jayhawks is that they are 9th in fielding in the Big 12, so they will need to be clean with the defense, or else the Horns will take advantage. Likewise, the Horns cannot get home run happy as the Jayhawks pitch to contact and like to get popups.
Through 52 games, here is a comparison to the Horns record in previous seasons and where they ended up.
2017: (33-19) >> 2 seed - NCAA Regional
2018: (35-17) >> 13th overall national seed - CWS
2019: (26-26) >> Missed Post Season
2020: >> Season Cancelled
2021: (40-12) >> 2nd overall national seed - CWS
2022: (37-17) >> 9th overall national seed - CWS
2023: (34-18) >> 2 seed - Super Regional
2024: 32-20 >> TBD (likely a 2 seed in NCAA Tournament)
#25 Texas Longhorns v. Kansas Jayhawks
Date: May 16-18
Where: Disch-Falk Field
Time: Thursday 6:30pm, Friday 6:30pm, and Saturday 2:30pm
TV: LHN
Series Matchup:
Records:
Texas: 32-20 (17-10 Big 12)
Kansas: 29-18 (15-12 Big 12)
RPI / SOS
Texas: 44 / 24
Kansas: 65 / 70
Texas Records Breakout:
Home: 21-12
Away: 11-5
Neutral: 0-3
Kansas Records Breakout:
Home: 17-8
Away: 8-6
Neutral: 4-4
Texas Quadrants Breakout:
Q1: 12-9
Q2: 5-2
Q3: 2-1
Q4: 13-8
Kansas Quadrants Breakout
Q1: 3-5
Q2: 4-7
Q3: 11-3
Q4: 11-3
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
Note on LHP Ace Whitehead. He is being held out of the rotation this weekend for extra rest and to allow the staff align the rotation for the Big 12 tourney.
Kansas Top Relievers:
Kansas Offensive Leaders:
STATS BREAKDOWN
BIG 12 RANKS
SERIES PREDICTION:
BIG 12 WEEKEND SERIES:
BIG 12 RANKINGS (Top 10 teams make the Big 12 Tourney)
Oklahoma (21-6) – Big 12 Regular Season Champions
Oklahoma State (17-9) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
West Virginia (17-10) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
Texas (17-10) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
Cincinnati (16-11)
Kansas (15-12)
TCU (13-14)
Kansas State (13-14)
UCF (12-14)
Texas Tech (12-17)
- - - - - - - -
Baylor (9-18)
Houston (7-19)
BYU (6-21)
PREDICTED BIG 12 TOURNEY SEEDS:
Game 1: 6 seed Kansas v. 7 seed Kansas State
Game 2: 4 seed West Virginia v. 9 seed UCF
Game 3: 5 seed Cincy v. 8 seed TCU
Game 4: 3 seed Texas v. 10 seed Texas Tech
If the Horns finish as the 3 seed or 4 seed and were to win their first game, they would have Wednesday off. If the Horns finish 4th or 5th, they will likely play either TCU or UCF.
NCAA TOURNAMENT PROJECTIONS
Currently, the Horns are slotted as a 2 seed without the ability to host a Regional. The Q4 losses and RPI are an anchor on the Horns, severely limiting the Horns chances. Even if the Horns were to sweep Kansas and win the Big 12 Tournament, the Horns will not host and will be on the road for Regionals.
COLLEGE BASEBALL SERIES TO WATCH:
Horns look to win their 9th conference series as they host the Kansas Jayhawks for final Big 12 series of the season and for the Horns, the final regular conference series prior to heading to the SEC.
Coming into the series, the Horns are currently tied for 3rd place in the Big 12 with West Virginia, both of whom are just ½ game back from Oklahoma State. Currently the Horns appear to be locked into a 2 seed, so the biggest thing for the Horns is to try and lock in a minimum of a 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Kansas is 7-3 on their last 10 and are a sneaky tough opponent with solid front-line pitching and a tough group of hitters that don’t hit for a lot of power but have a high number of doubles and a solid walk to hit ratio.
The Jayhawks did not have to play Oklahoma or Oklahoma State this season, skewing their Big 12 conference record to a degree. In addition, KU is just 3-6 against the t 6 teams in conference and 12-6 against the bottom 6 in conference play. That said, KU is not a team that the Horns can take lightly due to the ability of their starters to go deep into games and grind.
Overall, I expect this weekend to be a tough series for the Horns playing against a team that pitches well and hits well. The one area of concern for the Jayhawks is that they are 9th in fielding in the Big 12, so they will need to be clean with the defense, or else the Horns will take advantage. Likewise, the Horns cannot get home run happy as the Jayhawks pitch to contact and like to get popups.
Through 52 games, here is a comparison to the Horns record in previous seasons and where they ended up.
2017: (33-19) >> 2 seed - NCAA Regional
2018: (35-17) >> 13th overall national seed - CWS
2019: (26-26) >> Missed Post Season
2020: >> Season Cancelled
2021: (40-12) >> 2nd overall national seed - CWS
2022: (37-17) >> 9th overall national seed - CWS
2023: (34-18) >> 2 seed - Super Regional
2024: 32-20 >> TBD (likely a 2 seed in NCAA Tournament)
#25 Texas Longhorns v. Kansas Jayhawks
Date: May 16-18
Where: Disch-Falk Field
Time: Thursday 6:30pm, Friday 6:30pm, and Saturday 2:30pm
TV: LHN
Series Matchup:
- Texas and Kansas first met in 1906
- Texas has a 60-30 all-time series lead over Kansas
- Texas holds a 33-10 record against Kansas at home
- Since David Pierce took over in 2017, the Horns have a 4-2 record against Kansas
- Home: 2 wins, including 2 sweeps and no losses
- Away: 2 wins, including 1 sweep and 2 losses
- Big 12 Tourney: Horns have a 1-2 record against Kansas
- Horns and Jayhawks last met in 2023
- Horns won the series 2-1
- Horns then lost to Kansas in the Big 12 Tourney
- Kansas did not play league leaders Oklahoma or Oklahoma State this season
- Kansas is 3-6 against the Top 6 teams and 12-6 against the Bottom 6 teams
Records:
Texas: 32-20 (17-10 Big 12)
Kansas: 29-18 (15-12 Big 12)
RPI / SOS
Texas: 44 / 24
Kansas: 65 / 70
Texas Records Breakout:
Home: 21-12
Away: 11-5
Neutral: 0-3
Kansas Records Breakout:
Home: 17-8
Away: 8-6
Neutral: 4-4
Texas Quadrants Breakout:
Q1: 12-9
Q2: 5-2
Q3: 2-1
Q4: 13-8
Kansas Quadrants Breakout
Q1: 3-5
Q2: 4-7
Q3: 11-3
Q4: 11-3
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
- THU–Texas RHP Charlie Hurley (5-0, 6.14) vs. Kansas RHP Reese Dutton (7-4, 3.50)
- Dutton averages 7 IP, regularly throwing 100+ pitches
- In his most recent outing against Houston, he went 4 IP (87 pitches), giving up 6 runs
- FRI–Texas RHP Max Grubbs (4-4, 3.70) vs. Kansas RHP Dominic Voegele (7-2, 3.55)
- Voegele averages 6 IP, regularly throwing around 100 pitches
- In his most recent outing against Houston, he went 3 IP (70 pitches), giving up 8 runs
- SAT–Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (2-4, 5.82) vs. Kansas TBA
- The most likely starter for Sunday is LHP Evan Shaw (3-0, 5.86 ERA)
- Shaw’s longest outing of the season has been 5 IP
- In his most recent outing against Houston, he went 3.1 IP (83 pitches), giving up 4 runs
Note on LHP Ace Whitehead. He is being held out of the rotation this weekend for extra rest and to allow the staff align the rotation for the Big 12 tourney.
Kansas Top Relievers:
- Hunter Cranton (3-2, 6 saves, 1.64 ERA, 22 apps)
- Patrick Steitz (2-2, 2.16 ERA, 6 apps)
- Kolby Dougan (0-1, 2.93 ERA, 13 apps)
- Cooper Moore (1-2, 3.67 ERA, 23 apps)
- J’Briell Easley (1-0, 4.30 ERA, 8 apps)
- Ethan Lanthier (4-0, 4.73 ERA, 17 apps)
- Tegan Cain (0-2, 5.97 ERA, 23 apps)
Kansas Offensive Leaders:
- John Nett (.352 avg, .966 OPS, 6 HR, 32 RBI, .534 SLG%, .432 OB%, 8-9 SB)
- Kodey Shojinaga (.338 avg, .907 OPS, 5 HR, 42 RBI, .500 SLG%, .407 OB%)
- Jake English (.337 avg, 1.120 OPS, 13 HR, 47 RBI, .645 SLG%, .475 OB%)
- Michael Brooks (.331 avg, 1.037 OPS, 8 HR, 38 RBI, .612 SLG%, .425 OB%)
- Ben Hartl (.323 avg, 1.105 OPS, 9 HR, 32 RBI, .629 SLG%, .476 OB%)
- Collier Cranford (.301 avg, .840 OPS, 5 HR, 42 RBI, .478 SLG%, .362 OB%, 5-8 SB
STATS BREAKDOWN
| STAT | TEXAS | KANSAS |
| Batting Average | .290 | .306 |
| OPS | .912 | .914 |
| Doubles | 117 | 119 |
| Triples | 8 | 5 |
| Home Runs | 103 | 65 |
| RBI | 361 | 343 |
| SLG% | .535 | .506 |
| Walks | 208 | 244 |
| Strikeouts | 474 | 317 |
| On-Base% | .377 | .408 |
| ERA | 4.94 | 4.63 |
| WHIP | 1.49 | 1.47 |
| Bases on Balls | 226 | 185 |
| Strikeouts | 419 | 429 |
| Wild Pitches | 49 | 22 |
| B/Avg Against | .263 | .264 |
| Home Runs Against | 61 | 37 |
| Errors | 51 | 51 |
| Fielding% | .974 | .970 |
BIG 12 RANKS
| STAT | TEXAS | KANSAS |
| Batting Average | 4th | 2nd |
| Hits | 2nd | 5th |
| Home Runs | 1st | 6th |
| RBI | 4th | 7th |
| SLG % | 1st | 4th |
| Base on Balls | 11th | 7th |
| Strikeouts | 11th | 1st |
| OB% | 9th | 3rd |
| Stolen Bases | 9th | 13th |
| Fielding % | 5th | 9th |
| ERA | 5th | 4th |
| Walks Allowed | 8th | 3rd |
| Strikeouts | 12th | 9th |
| HR Allowed | 9th | 1st |
| Hits Allowed | 10th | 5th |
SERIES PREDICTION:
- Horns win the series 2-1
- On the season I am 34-18 with my predictions
BIG 12 WEEKEND SERIES:
- Oklahoma at Cincinnati
- Oklahoma State at Houston
- West Virginia at TCU
- Kansas at Texas
- UCF at Baylor
- BYU at Kansas State
- Texas Tech v. Arizona State & UNLV
BIG 12 RANKINGS (Top 10 teams make the Big 12 Tourney)
Oklahoma (21-6) – Big 12 Regular Season Champions
Oklahoma State (17-9) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
West Virginia (17-10) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
Texas (17-10) – cannot finish lower than 6th place
Cincinnati (16-11)
Kansas (15-12)
TCU (13-14)
Kansas State (13-14)
UCF (12-14)
Texas Tech (12-17)
- - - - - - - -
Baylor (9-18)
Houston (7-19)
BYU (6-21)
PREDICTED BIG 12 TOURNEY SEEDS:
Game 1: 6 seed Kansas v. 7 seed Kansas State
Game 2: 4 seed West Virginia v. 9 seed UCF
Game 3: 5 seed Cincy v. 8 seed TCU
Game 4: 3 seed Texas v. 10 seed Texas Tech
If the Horns finish as the 3 seed or 4 seed and were to win their first game, they would have Wednesday off. If the Horns finish 4th or 5th, they will likely play either TCU or UCF.
NCAA TOURNAMENT PROJECTIONS
Currently, the Horns are slotted as a 2 seed without the ability to host a Regional. The Q4 losses and RPI are an anchor on the Horns, severely limiting the Horns chances. Even if the Horns were to sweep Kansas and win the Big 12 Tournament, the Horns will not host and will be on the road for Regionals.
| SEED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 | Kentucky | San Diego | Cincinnati | Sacred Heart |
| 2 | Tennessee | West Virginia | Xavier | Bryant |
| 3 | Arkansas | Southern Miss | Kansas State | New Mexico |
| 4 | Texas A&M | Texas | Louisiana Tech | Oral Roberts |
| 5 | North Carolina | Alabama | UNC Wilmington | Fairfield |
| 6 | Clemson | South Carolina | College of Charleston | Wright State |
| 7 | Georgia | NC State | UCF | Austin Peay |
| 8 | Wake Forest | Oregon | Vanderbilt | Army |
| 9 | Florida State | UC Irvine | Troy | Florida A&M |
| 10 | Oklahoma | Nebraska | Northeastern | Little Rock |
| 11 | Indiana State | Arizona | Illinois | Bowling Green |
| 12 | East Carolina | Duke | UNC Greensboro | High Point |
| 13 | Oregon State | Connecticut | TCU | Saint Louis |
| 14 | Mississippi State | Louisiana | Georgia Tech | Lamar |
| 15 | Virginia | UC Santa Barbara | Coastal Carolina | Columbia |
| 16 | Oklahoma State | Dallas Baptist | Utah | Grand Canyon |
COLLEGE BASEBALL SERIES TO WATCH:
- #7 North Carolina at #11 Duke
- #24 South Carolina at #1 Tennessee
- #8 Wake Forest at #NC State
- #3 Arkansas at #5 Texas A&M
- #6 Oregon State at #14 Arizona
