After taking all three games against the Broncos, the Mavericks provide the final tuneup before conference play begins.
After closing out the weekend series against the Santa Clara Broncos with a 6-1 victory on Sunday, the No. 11 Texas Longhorns are back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against the UT Arlington Mavericks before opening SEC play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville on Friday.
First pitch against the Mavericks is at 6:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
In the midst of a 14-game winning streak, Texas is off to its best 20-game start since winning the national championship in 2005 and are one of just six Texas teams to begin a season 13-1 or better.
Freshman left-hander Dylan Volantis received his first college start against Santa Clara on Sunday, recording his second career victory by allowing one run on three hits over 5.1 innings with three strikeouts and a walk. The 6’6, 212-pounder attacked the strike zone with rhythm and confidence on the mound and worked down in the zone to induce eight groundouts by the Broncos.
“Mentally, he’s so steady and he’s reliable. He doesn’t get over excited, but at the same time, he’s ready to roll every day. So he’s certainly a strike thrower — multiple pitches, very unique, which gives him a chance, and I think he’s only going to get better,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the game.
Volantis throws a sinking fastball from a high arm slot that takes advantage of his height. And his off-speed offerings are good enough to serve as out pitches, but Schlossnagle came away impressed with how well Santa Clara performed making contact on two-strike pitches.
The short-term trend line for sophomore left-hander Kade Bing isn’t as positive. Bing was the initial Sunday starter as Volantis built up his strength and conditioning, but the McLennan CC transfer hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a strike thrower, hitting a batter and allowing a hit in his 0.2 innings of work. Particularly alarming for Schlossnagle was a fastball at 85 miles per hour, well below Bing’s typical velocity.
Schlossnagle got some work for senior right-hander Andre Duplantier against a couple right-handed hitters after facing lefties earlier on Saturday and Duplantier responded by retiring both batters working from the arm slot that he lowered over the offseason.
The Texas staff is hopeful to get senior left-hander Will Mercer back on the mound after suffering a recent injury, but also wants to take advantage of midweek games to get some work for bullpen arms like junior right-hander Aiden Moffitt, junior right-hander Connor McCreery, and redshirt junior Cody Howard.
For an average West Coach Conference team, the biggest surprise from Santa Clara was their Sunday starter, sophomore right-hander Max Bayles. The 6’3, 210-pounder recorded five saves as a freshman last season, holding opponents to a .206 batting average while posting a 3.40 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 3-to-1. Continuing that success as a starter, Bayles struck out nine against CSUN and 12 against UC Davis this season and had his breaking ball working against Texas, forcing Longhorns hitters to chase pitchers that started at the bottom of the strike zone before showing hard, late bite.
Even though Texas struck out nine times against Bayles, Schlossnagle was happy that his hitters were able to work deep into counts, necessitating the Santa Clara starter’s departure after 99 pitches over 5.0 innings.
The Longhorns were able to score four runs against the bullpen of the Broncos, creating some needed separation after Schlossnagle’s plan to get his left-handed hitters some at bats against Bayles resulted in two strikeouts apiece for freshman catcher Cole Chamberlain and sophomore left fielder Easton Winfield. However, sophomore designated hitter Jaquae Stewart did pick up his first career hit for Texas — Schlossnagle wants to get the junior-college transfer some at bats because of his potential utility as a pinch hitter during conference play.
On Tuesday, the surprise is that freshman right-hander Drew Rerick is making the start in place of fellow freshman right-hander Jason Flores, who was solid in his two midweek starts this season. Expect Flores to see some time on the rubber against UT Arlington, which will send a familiar face to the mound — redshirt senior left-hander Caden Noah (0-0, 4.91 ERA), who appeared in three games over two seasons on the Forty Acres before starting 20 games over the last two seasons for the Mavericks. Tuesday’s game will mark Noah’s first start this season.
Picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference, UT Arlington enters Tuesday’s game at 4-8 on the season with a 1-4 road record that includes two losses to Oklahoma State and two losses to Louisiana-Monroe. With former Texas player Clay Van Hook taking over as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Houston following two seasons as the head coach at UTA, Van Hook’s assistant Mike Trapasso took over the program.
With a slash line of .262/.351/.359, the Mavericks have extremely little pop at the plate beyond first baseman Tyce Armstrong, who has three of the team’s six home runs. Armstrong’s backstory is an interesting one — his mother was a national champion diver at Texas and his father competed in the 1976 Olympics, is a member of the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame, and his long coaching career includes serving as a member of every US Olympic coaching staff since 2000.
The pitching staff has struggled with a 6.66 ERA as opponents have hit .306 against UTA.
Texas has won six of the last seven matchups against UTA with a 59-18 edge in the all-time series.
