Texas Baseball Gameday: No. 12/15 Texas (19-6) vs. Texas State (15-8)

No. 12/15 Texas (19-6) vs. Texas State (15-8) · March 25

Where: Austin, Texas • UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,237)
Time: 6 p.m.

Television: Longhorn Network - Talent: Kevin Dunn (PbP), Greg Swindell (Analyst)
Radio: Online at www.TexasSports.com/showcase - Talent: Keith Moreland (PbP), Bill Little (Analyst)
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/texas/baseball/

All-Time Series: Texas leads, 40-9, 36-9 at home

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fr. LHP Tyler Davenport (0-1, 3.68) vs. Jr. RHP Lukas Schiraldi (3-1, 2.77)

QUICK HITS
· By virtue of Texas' sweep of Coulmbia last weekend, head coach Augie Garrido tied Gordon Gillespie for the most wins (1,893) by any college baseball coach at any level. He is already the winningest coach in Division I history.
· At 19-6, Texas is off to its best start in the first 25 games since opening 21-4 in 2005.
· Texas has won 13 of its last 14 non-conference games. The Longhorns have also won 10 straight Tuesday games dating back to last season.
· The Texas pitching staff leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally with a 1.91 ERA. Texas Tech is second with a 2.96 ERA. As a staff, Texas is holding opponents to a .221 batting average, also best in the league.
· The weekend starting rotation has a collective 1.49 ERA. Nathan Thornhill has surrendered just four earned runs, Parker French just seven, and Dillon Peters just eight. All three rank in the Big 12 top 10 in ERA (Thornhill - 2nd, French - 6th, Peters - 8th).
· The Longhorns have recorded double-digit hits in three of their last four games and hit .333 as a team last week, second best in the Big 12 behind Kansas (.345).
· The Longhorns have a Big 12 best five shutouts (No. 7 in the nation) this season, including two last week. Texas had a 0.50 ERA last week, allowing just two earned runs in 36 innings.
· Tres Barrera has raised his average 141 points (.128 to .269) since March 11, going 15-of-30 (.500) in that eight-game span. The freshman was 9-for-17 (.529) last week.
· Texas is ranked in the top 25 by all five major polls, including 12th by Baseball America and 15th by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
· Texas has 24 double plays this season (including seven last week), which is tied for first in the Big 12 and ranks 19th nationally.  The Longhorns lead the league and rank 16th in the country in fielding percentage (.980). Texas is fielding at a .989 clip at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
· Mark Payton leads the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.528) and triples (5), is tied for second in walks (21) and is third in average (.405). Payton has reached base safely in 64 consecutive games dating back to last season, which is the longest streak nationally and the second longest in Big 12 history (93 - Nick Martini, K-State, 2009-11).
· The Longhorns are 9-0 when scoring in the first inning this season, including 3-0 last week.
· Texas is No. 6 in the country in Iterative Strength Rating, according to college baseball site BoydsWorld.com (see more - page 3).  The Longhorns have played the 28th most difficult schedule.
· Since taking over as the starter in right field on March 2 vs. Sam Houston State, Collin Shaw has been on a tear, hitting safely in 10 of 14 games. The junior is batting .326 on the season.
· The Texas bullpen had a streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings snapped when it surrendered five runs in the ninth inning against Kansas on March 16. On the year, the bullpen has a 2.04 ERA, while the starters have a 1.84 ERA.
· Texas is 19-2 when scoring two runs or more.
· Texas has stolen 20 bases on 26 attempts this season, with Payton (4-5), Ben Johnson (5-5) and Collin Shaw (4-6) leading the way. The Longhorns have been excellent against the run, with opponents stealing just eight bases on 14 attempts. That's the lowest number in the Big 12, with West Virginia ranking second (10-16).
· Texas leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally with 40 sacrifice bunts.