Texas baseball begins weekend series vs. UIW with Pete Hansen

After an absolute offensive outburst for head coach David Pierce and No. 2 ranked Texas baseball to cap their five-game road trip in a win over The Citadel on March 16, this will look to keep on rolling in a very winnable weekend series. Texas is set to take on the Incarnate Word Cardinals in a three-game weekend series at home at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, starting on the evening of March 18.

On a busy day for Longhorn athletics in general, the baseball team will try to keep their winning streak going against Incarnate Word this weekend.

On the mound for Pierce and the Longhorns in this weekend series opener against the Cardinals on March 18 is the stud redshirt sophomore left-hander Pete Hansen. This is a good shot for Hansen to bounce back from his worst start of the season so far, where he let up five earned runs against South Carolina on March 12. Yet, Hansen still somehow salvaged the win in that game.

Hansen comes into this series opener against Incarnate Word with a spotless record of 3-0 with a 3.25 earned run average. This could also be the final start for Hansen before Big 12 play begins next week.

Texas baseball has Pete Hansen on the mound to lead into a weekend series vs. UIW

Moreover, the Texas pitching staff struggled throughout much of the five-game road stretch. That was especially the case when the Longhorns faced the South Carolina Gamecocks in a doubleheader last weekend and in the one-game series against College of Charleston.

Texas allowed an average of more than six runs per game during their three-game losing streak at the hands of South Carolina and College of Charleston earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, Incarnate Word has a pretty hot offense coming into this weekend series. Incarnate Word comes in sporting a record of 9-5, as they sit on a five-game winning streak. The Cardinals have scored at least five runs in every game during this winning streak. They’ve also scored at least seven runs in four games of this five-game winning streak.

Yet, it will be key for the Longhorns to continue to get some explosive outings from the offense ahead of the start of Big 12 play. Texas got a season-high 18 runs thanks to an offensive outburst against The Citadel a couple of days ago.

Texas does have the ability to clean house against UIW at the Disch this weekend. But this is a hot UIW offense coming into this three-game weekend series. Texas’ pitching staff will have to find a way to improve in the next few days.

Following their 18-4 win over The Citadel on March 16, the Longhorns are sitting with a record of 14-5. The first pitch between Texas and UIW on March 18 is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Disch.