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#2 TEXAS (15-5) vs. UIW (9-6)
March 19, 2022
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Saturday at 2:30 pm
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM
Live stats: https://texassports.com/sidearmstats/baseball
The Horns get back to work today against UIW who they over matched in every category last night. Texas the last two games have been an interesting mix of aggressiveness and continuing to grind out ABs and go deep in the count. Hansen was not perfect last night and scuffled a bit in the 1st inning and was efficient through 5 innings and the Texas batters provided a huge cushion which allowed Pierce to get Blair, Stewart and Duplantier some stress free work as they continue to work back. Blair was not really able to locate his breaking ball, but was effective with his fastball in the zone and relied upon his defense behind him to get outs. Hodo did not have the best night at the plate, but did put down a nice sac bunt and then of course got a 3 run homer late in the game to help boost his confidence. Two promising things from the past two games though has been the hitting of Daly and Skyler. Messinger alone has added nearly 60 points to his batting average which is a huge boost to the back end of the lineup. Aaron touched on Murph's hitting in his post game, but the tear that he is on brings to mind the outstanding season that Mark Payton had back in which he just constantly produced for Texas game after game. Murph undoubtedly will cool off at some point, it is baseball after all, but here are a few historical numbers to know and watch as the year goes on. Oh and some guy named Ivan is no slouch either as he is hitting .361 on the year so far.
Top batting averages over the years (2020 was excluded):
Kody Clemens hit .351 in 2018
Mark Payton hit .393 2014
Dustin Majewski hit .401 in 2002
In case you missed it, make sure to check out the recap and highlights by @AaronLittleOB - UIW - Friday Night Recap
Pitching Matchups:
Texas - RHP Tristan Stevens (3-1, 0.76 ERA)
UIW - RHP Aaron Celestino (3-0, 4.09)
Stevens looks to bounce back from an uncharacteristically bad start against South Carolina that was affected by the weather delay. Celestino got his first start of the year against UT-Arlington in a 9-3 win. He threw 92 pitches in 6 IP, giving up 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 HBP and 6 SO.
More info to come as the lineups come out so stay tuned and head out to Disch-Falk on a beautiful Saturday!
