Texas in Omaha: What You Need to Know
Texas plays the University of California, Irvine to open the College World Series in Omaha on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. on ESPN2. Now that the Longhorns are getting further away from home, they are going to see teams they haven’t played this year—or ever before. Here’s what you need to know about the games this weekend:
- This is the 35th College World Series for Texas, and the Longhorns have won 82 CWS games—both are records. This is the second CWS appearance for UC-I, which, in case you’re wondering, is not a record.
- Tickets are still available for tournament games at TD Ameritrade Park. Texas and UC-I play in Game 1.
- UC-Irvine’s nickname is the Anteaters. Not very menacing, but admittedly pretty cool.
- UT has played UC-Irvine twice, losing both games. Both matchups were in 2007, when UC-Irvine knocked Texas out of the Round Rock Regional. Louisville and Vanderbilt are also in the group. Texas has never played Louisville, and UT is 6-6 all-time against Vanderbilt.
- Louisville and Vanderbilt play each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. The winners of each game will enter the winner’s bracket game, played on Monday night at 7 p.m. Losers will play that afternoon at 2.
- UC-Irvine lost 8 of its last 9 games to end the regular season before catching fire in the postseason. The Anteaters upset No. 1 seed Oregon State in the regional tournament and swept Oklahoma State to win the Stillwater Super Regional.
- Texas’ record is now up to 43-19 after the Super Regional sweep of Houston. UC-I is 40-23, Louisville is 50-15, and Vanderbilt is 46-19 after their Super Regionals.
- Texas is 21-2 this season when they score in the first inning. This doesn’t need to be mentioned, but … the Longhorns should try to score first against UC-Irvine.
- The streak continues. After the Austin Super Regional, Mark Payton has now reached base in 101 straight games. His Big 12-leading OBP (on base percentage) is now .467, which is very, very good. His .556 OBP throughout the tournament is almost unbelievable. Payton will join UC-Irvine 1B Connor Spencer in the New York Yankees organization next year, as both were selected by the Yankees on the second day of last weekend’s draft.
- The red-hot Texas pitching staff has a 1.15 ERA in the tournament, holding opposing hitters to .210.
- Nathan Thornhill and Mark Payton recently visited the Longhorn Network studio to discuss their run to Omaha.
Image courtesy Bethany Walter/UT Athletics
