Picked to finish fifth in Big 12, Texas baseball starts 2019 at Rice

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — The 2019 season was one to forget for the Texas baseball team.

The first steps toward really putting that disappointing campaign in the rearview mirror took place in the fall and in the recent weeks, and the fruit of that labor will be seen for the first time Friday when the Longhorns open the 2020 season with the first of a three-game series with Rice in Houston.

This edition of the Longhorns has a lot to prove, but despite an uptick in talent and an unquestioned desire to be better, Texas will have a bevy of roadblocks. The Longhorns were picked in the preseason to finish [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]fifth in the Big 12, behind Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU and Oklahoma.

“The only thing better than playing opening day at Rice is opening day at the Disch,” Texas coach David Pierce said. “But opening day is just a special time. I mean, you work so hard for it, we practice so much for it.

“But I don’t want our players to go out and kind of freak out about it. I want them to grow from what we’ve been working on in their mental game and slow down and play the game with joy and just go have fun competing.”

Texas didn’t even qualify to play in the Big 12 tournament after finishing dead last in the conference last season and ended up with a .500 overall record at 27-27. The Longhorns were 24-15 at one point, but then things really fell apart.

The Longhorns scored just 287 runs last year. Increasing their productivity at the plate will help Texas get back to the postseason in 2020.

“We flipped the page — 2019, we’re past that,” Pierce said. “You’ve got to play your role and I think that’s the difficult thing for our players. The first two to three weeks is just kind of fitting in. All of our guys have been the best players on their high school team, and so that’s a difficult role sometimes. We’re going to utilize people and try to win every, every game we’re in.”

Outfielders Eric Kennedy and Duke Ellis will set the tone for this lineup as they combined for 26 stolen bases and 53 runs batted in. Outfielder Austin Todd and first baseman Zach Zubia are solid run producers and have some pop with their bats as they combined for eight home runs and 73 runs batted in last season.

This year’s team includes 13 true freshmen and three junior college transfers. Those 16 new faces will pair up with 17 returning letterwinners.

“There’s such a great balance of youth along with some guys that have played in Omaha,” Pierce said, “and they’re right there pulling for each other. I really like this team. You know, we may come out of the gates and go 15-0 and we may come out of the gate and struggle early, but I think this team is going to get better, no matter what.”

Two freshmen, Trey Faltine and Brenden Dixon, will start at shortstop and second base, respectively, for the Longhorns.

“I think all the coaches have really good confidence in all the freshmen that we’re going to be out there and do what we do best and perform just like we have all these years,” Faltine said.

The pitching staff is highlighted by Bryce Elder, Coy Cobb and Ty Madden. The key will be to pitch aggressively and not worry about making a mistake due to a struggling offense.

“I’ve been excited for two weeks,” Elder said. “I mean just thinking about it. I think that for the younger guys it’s a lot, it’s … happening quick, and that as soon as we can kind of settle in in a not a complacent way but just settling in a good way we will be good. I think we’re going to go on some good stretches. Everybody’s just got better and ready to win and so ready to get after it.”

The 2020 schedule features 32 home games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, including a marquee non-conference series March 6-8 against Cal State-Fullerton.

In addition to 32 home games, Longhorn fans from around the state of Texas will have opportunities to see the team play. Texas will play seven total games in Houston, with a season-opening series at Rice before returning two weeks later for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

In Big 12 Conference play, the Longhorns will host Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU and Kansas and travel to Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas State and West Virginia.

“Just come in every single day ready to work,” Zubia said. “Win or lose, treat the next day like it’s your last one. So, if you lose one game it’s not the end of the world, but obviously you want to position ourselves to be ready to win every single game. I think that’s the biggest thing is just being focused every single day.”
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