One of two remaining unbeaten teams nationally, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns face off against the USC Upstate Spartans for the first time this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin as head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team plays its final series before SEC play starts next week when the Ole Miss Rebels trip to the Forty Acres.
The weekend series marks the end of a nine-game road swing for the Spartans and the program’s first trip west of the Mississippi River as USC Upstate arrives with a 7-7 record in the midst of a two-game losing streak and at 4-6 on the road this season helmed by second-year head coach Kane Sweeney.
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Last year, the longtime Spartans assistant led USC Upstate to its first-ever Big South regular season and tournament titles behind a powerful offense that ranked second nationally in hits (685) and runs (569), third in scoring (9.5), seventh in doubles (140), 10th in batting average (.315), and 19th in HBP (114), home runs (101), on-base percentage (.418), and slugging percentage (.524).
The head coach’s brother, Johnny, is the team’s standout designated hitter who was a first-team All-American last season with a slash line of .345/.500/.701 with 15 doubles, 18 home runs, and a program-record 82 RBI.
This year, the Spartans are still hitting well at .296 as a team, but don’t have a ton of power with 11 home runs — no player has more than two home runs on the year. Third baseman Jake Armsey is the team’s leading hitter at .354 with 10 RBI and 13 walks while center fielder Henry Zenor bats .333 with a team-high 13 RBI.
On the mound, the probable starters are left-hander Chris Torres (0-1; 8.25 ERA), right-hander Brent Stukes (2-1; 6.28 ERA), and right-hander Max Bianchini (1-1; 7.43 ERA) for a staff that has struggled on the way to a 6.03 ERA and 1.56 WHIP, allowing 18 home runs and 31 doubles. Redshirt freshman right-hander Jacob Kirby has started his career with four successful outings, posting a 0.00 ERA over 12.0 innings, striking out seven while limiting opponents to a .171 batting average.
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The weekend rotation remains the same for Texas with senior right-hander Ruger Riojas (3-0, 1.12 ERA) takes the mound after a sensational start to the season — the UTSA transfer ranks fourth nationally with 30 strikeouts, recording at least nine in all three of his outings, including a career-high 11 in last Friday’s win over Coastal Carolina. Opponents are only batting .127 against the 6’0, 195-pounder.
The Horns have looked like a complete team early, outscoring its 12 opponents 109-22 with the help of a pitching staff that has allowed only 19 earned runs in 100 innings with the country’s second-best ERA (1.71) and WHIP (0.94), ranking 10th in OPS (1.012) and 13th in average (.330) nationally, and boasting a .988 fielding percentage that is tied for seventh-best nationally.
The start times are 6:30 p.m. Central on Friday, 2 p.m. Central on Saturday, and noon Central on Sunday, although storms forecast for Saturday afternoon could impact the game. All three games air on SEC Network+.
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