**Texas Baseball Preview vs UNLV FR-SU**

[joeywa]

Photo courtesy TexasSports.com

A few notes for the opening weekend of baseball.

UNLV

UNLV was forced to change head coaches in mid-December, as their former skipper, Tim Chambers, stepped away from his five-year stint as Head Coach due to health issues.  Former pitching coach Stan Stolte takes over the helm for the 2016 season.  This is a rebuild year for UNLV, with most projecting them to finish near the bottom of the Mountain West Conference this season.

UNLV will be a fairly young team, (similar to Texas.)  They will likely see freshmen contributions at 1B, 3B and they have some young arms in the bullpen that could see innings as well.  Keep the names Kyle Isbel and Nick Ames in the back of your minds.  Both are true freshmen that could see immediate playing time.  The Rebels lost five of their top six hitters as well as two Ps to the MLB draft.  Justin Jones (JR) will be back in the lineup at 2B after missing a majority of last season due to injury, which is a big plus for this squad.  Payton Squier (SO) should also be a weapon for UNLV, both offensively and defensively. 

6'5" 250 lb. RHP DJ Meyers (JR) should get the Friday night start against the Horns. 

Other pitchers that are likely to see some innings are:

RHP Kenny Oakley (SR)

RHP Ben Wright (SR)

RHP Blaze Bohall (SO)

RHP Cody Roper (SR)

RHP Dean Kramer (SO)

Here's a quick video from their Media Day.

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Texas notes:

The Longhorns have announced their "probable" starting rotation for this weekend, Johnston, Culbreth and Mayes.  Pretty much who you'd expect to see right out of the gate. 

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[MBHORNSFAN]

Good stuff

 

[joeywa]

Good stuff

Thanks man.  I figured we have all seen a lot of the Texas previews, so I wanted to provide a bit of insight into the opponent and what they bring to the table.  As the season progresses, these will be a bit more in-depth.  Right now all we have to go on is very limited info coming from conference previews and media days. 

 

[Huskie1]

Thanks for the great work Joey. I'm ready for a great season! Took in some softball with my daughter over the weekend as a warmup for baseball. Ladies played some exciting ball.

 

[Aaron Carrara]

The smell of baseball is in the air.....  Looking forward to following Texas this season!

 

[OrangeLarry]

Any word on the progress of Morgan Cooper's rehap?  Any idea if / when he might return to the mound?

 

[Coal Harbour]

Thanks for the preview, much appreciated.

 

[joeywa]

Any word on the progress of Morgan Cooper's rehap? Any idea if / when he might return to the mound?

He will definitely be back. He has been throwing in some of the intrasquad scrimmages. At this point the reports I've seen are that his velo is there and his change looks good. The hook will take a bit longer to fine tune. He is still building up his endurance coming back from the surgery and rehab.

 

[armadillo slim]

Any word on the progress of Morgan Cooper's rehap?  Any idea if / when he might return to the mound?

i'm excited by the entire staff that we appear to have.  an embarrassment of riches as they say, but the one i most want to see is Morgan Cooper.  It really hare-lipped us last year when we lost him.  seemed to throw the whole season off kilter and one thing led to another.

i am hoping that cooper comes back really strong and helps us out a lot.  this staff has the potential to be one of the best in what amounts to a very storied history.

a couple of other guys i am looking forward to watching again is tres barrera and another guy i never ever thought would amount to the player he's become when i first saw him as a freshman, collin shaw.   

the guy has just turned into a stud ball player.  hell on wheels defensively and an absolute bulldog on offense.  fiery as hell and really run the bases.

now, please join me in singing my new theme song for this year........ to tune of Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys:

"Bunt, bunt, bunt, bunt, buntyourassoff,

Bunt, bunt, bunt, bunt, buntyourassoff.......

Love me some small ball.  yes sir.  love it, love it, love it......bunt'em on, bunt'em over, bunt'em in.  yes sir.  my new mantra.

hey street.    i found my old hat.     lucky day for eeeerrrbody!!!!!

 

[Johnstark23]

Holy shit an actual Armadillo Slim sighting. Now the world is rotating on its axis.

VIVA LA BUNT

 

[joeywa]

Holy shit an actual Armadillo Slim sighting. Now the world is rotating on its axis.

VIVA LA BUNT

Just as the end of winter is predicted by the groundhog, the beginning of baseball is proclaimed by the Armadillo S.

 

[joeywa]

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[joeywa]

Here's a quick snippet from Augie on this year's team.

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[utisdabomb12]

http://www.hookem.com/2016/02/17/augie-garrido-sets-lineup-for-baseball-season-opener/

 

[joeywa]

A few more notes:

Augie has said that Chase Shugart (FR) will start off the season as the planned closer for the pitching staff.

A tentative lineup for Friday was also released today.

Gurwitz CF

Boswell SS

Mathis RF

Tres C

Cantu DH

Clemens, Kacy 1B

Clemens, Kody 3B

McKenzie 2B

Rand LF

 

[joeywa]

Per AAS, Joe Baker, (2B,) who was scheduled to start at 2B, will likely miss the three-game series with a leg injury.

 

[joeywa]

We're here folks!

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[MBHORNSFAN]

Per AAS, Joe Baker, (2B,) who was scheduled to start at 2B, will likely miss the three-game series with a leg injury.

Rumor has it he may also be having some off the field issues. Hopefully its not true

 

[joeywa]

Rumor has it he may also be having some off the field issues. Hopefully its not true

FYI, Baker is not suspended and if he were healthy, he would be perfectly eligible to take the field this weekend.

My take, he's got a minor aggravation and is being given the weekend off to try and rest it.  No need to read into it any further.