Texas manager Augie Garrido’s fears were assuaged on Memorial Day when it was announced the Texas Longhorns had secured the No. 7 overall seed and would indeed host a regional at Disch-Falk this coming weekend.
By Texas’ standards, the Big 12 conference baseball tournament wasn’t very successful. Falling twice to the Missouri Tigers–the second loss leading to elimination from the tourney–the Longhorns struggled at the plate and just couldn’t grab any consistent momentum.
Luckily enough, the NCAA selection committee considered the team’s 43-15 overall record (19-8 in Big 12 play) to be strong enough among the field’s other participants to secure a regional.
Let’s take an in-depth look at the Longhorns’ three potential opponents in the Austin Regional:
1. Texas State Bobcats (40-21 overall, 24-9 Southland)
The Austin Regional’s No. 2 seed is the Southland Conference’s tournament champion, the Texas State Bobcats.
Ty Harrington’s squad is led on offense by junior catcher Casey Kalenkosky, junior infielder Kyle Kubitza and outfielder/pitcher Jeff McVaney.
Kalenkosky hit .328 with 21 homers and 68 runs batted in during 2011 regular season play, leading the Bobcats in the latter two categories. Kubitza hit .314 with nine homers and was second on the team with 61 runs batted in. McVaney hit a whopping .332 with 10 homers and 47 RBI’s.
These three batters are sure to give Kent State pitchers fits in Friday afternoon’s opener at Disch-Falk field.
On the rubber, the Bobcats are led by junior right-hander Carson Smith and sophomore lefty Colton Turner. Smith led the Bobcats in wins with nine, and posted an outstanding 1.98 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Turner posted a 9-2 record on the season, with a 4.39 ERA but a strong 1.37 WHIP.
These two should be the locks at No. 1 and No.2 starter this weekend.
Texas State has great talent from Central Texas and could easily surprise in this regional, especially given their generous pairing with a Kent State team that play’s in one of the nation’s weakest conferences.
2. Kent State Golden Flashes (43-15 overall, 21-5 MAC)
The MAC-champion Kent State Golden Flashes come to Austin this weekend after winning four of their last five. With consecutive shutout wins on May 28th over Miami of Ohio and Eastern Michigan, the Golden Flashes took home another MAC championship.
Scott Stricklin’s squad is led on offense by senior outfielder Ben Klafczynski, junior catcher David Lyon, and junior infielder Travis Shaw.
Klafczynski led the Flashes in batting average, raking a scorching .368 with 10 homers and 54 runs batted in. David Lyon, the team’s mainstay behind the plate, hit .318 with eight homers and 49 RBI on the season. Travis Shaw, a solid utility infielder, hit .316, leading the team with 14 homers, and finishing second with 51 RBIs.
The Kent pitching staff is very impressive, especially on paper. The lefty trio of Sophomore lefty Andrew Chafin, senior Kyle Hallock and junior David Starn give teams a look they likely aren’t accustomed to, and the numbers show it.
All three have sub-2.00 ERAs, and a combined record of 26-7 between them– a deadly 1-2-3 punch by any standard.
Closer Kyle McMillen is deadly as well, posting 17 saves on the season, an ERA of 2.03 and an excellent WHIP of 1.03.
Whoever plays Kent State–first off Texas State–will need to score early and often to ensure success, otherwise, led by a great pitching staff, the Golden Flashes could suprise this weekend in Austin.
3. Princeton Tigers (23-22 overall, 15-5 Ivy)
The Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers appear to be the weakest of the four squads in the Austin Regional.
Led on offense by junior catcher Sam Mulroy, Scott Bradley’s squad hasn’t played a game since May 8th when they wrapped up the Ivy League regular season championship, winning a best two of three series against Dartmouth.
This rustiness, combined with a limited three man starting pitching rotation, should make the Tigers the first team to exit the Austin Regional.
In short, Texas cannot play with overconfidence this weekend. Both Kent State and Texas State can provide viable challenges and cannot be taken lightly.
After the Longhorns’ poor performance at Bricktown, you can bet we wil see a different team take the field on Friday night against Princeton– a team ready to make another run to Omaha.
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Great write-up, Kris. Texas State always has a strong ball club and always plays Texas well.
Will be interesting to see if Texas goes with Green, Stafford, or Milner on Friday.
Of course, pitching won’t be the issue for Texas; the bats need to wake up. I thought they were during the tournament stretch when they had 40 hits in 3 games, but then they slowed again in the final game.
Looks like Sam Stafford gets the nod for Texas Friday.
Makes sense they would go with Stafford on Friday. No reason to use Jungmann.. definitely want to save him for Saturday.