Texas baseball tries to stay spotless against Sam Houston State

Before one of the biggest stretches of the regular season slate arrives for head coach David Pierce and No. 1 ranked Texas baseball, there is a one-game midweek matchup with the Sam Houston State Bearkats on tap. Texas takes a record of 8-0 (0-0 Big 12) into this meeting with Sam Houston State on the road on the night of March 1.

Pierce and the Longhorns have cleanly swept the first three series of the regular season so far. That includes series wins over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, and Rice Owls. The most recent series sweep for the Longhorns came over the Crimson Tide last weekend following a 6-1 win on Feb. 27.

Meanwhile, Sam Houston State comes into this game sporting a record of 4-4 following three straight losses in a weekend series against Dallas Baptist. But all three of those games were decided by a combined margin of just six runs. Sam Houston State did hang tough with Dallas Baptist last weekend.

This is a Sam Houston State team that the Longhorns can’t take lightly. Sam Houston State already beat the No. 4 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in a Feb. 22 game a neutral site at the home of the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

Texas baseball has Andre Duplantier II on the mound vs. Sam Houston State on March 1

Texas is set to have the redshirt freshman right-hander Andre Duplantier II on the mound as their starter against Sam Houston State on March 1. Duplantier’s first start of the season was an impressive one as he gave the Longhorns four shutout innings on the mound with three strikeouts in a Feb. 22 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Duplantier has appeared in two games heading into this one. He also gave the Longhorns one shutout inning on the mound in relief starter Tristan Stevens in a Feb. 19 win over Rice.

Moreover, Texas will be facing a pitcher for Sam Houston State that already has some true battles under his belt heading into this one. Senior right-hander Cole Wesneski gets the call for Sam as their starter coming off his brilliant win over Oklahoma State where he pitched four shutout innings with just three hits allowed.

Texas is likely going to need the bats to come up big in this one. Sam Houston State is a team that the Longhorns should beat, even on the road. But Sam proved capable of beating some teams with more hype than them already this season.

The first pitch between Texas and Sam Houston State is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on March 1 at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, TX. This is the final game for the Longhorns before the critical three-game series comes against Tennessee, LSU, and UCLA, in the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic starting on March 4.