From Air Force to Zane (Morehouse and Russell): The ABCs of Texas' Austin Regional

Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman
·5 min read
Texas had to have a strong finish to secure one of 16 NCAA regional host spots, and the Longhorns hope to benefit from playing at Disch-Falk Field in this weekend's Austin Regional. Over the past five years, Texas is 10-1 at its home ballpark in NCAA postseason games and 146-40 overall there.
Texas had to have a strong finish to secure one of 16 NCAA regional host spots, and the Longhorns hope to benefit from playing at Disch-Falk Field in this weekend's Austin Regional. Over the past five years, Texas is 10-1 at its home ballpark in NCAA postseason games and 146-40 overall there.

The Texas baseball team is playing the role of host this weekend, as the Longhorns (42-19), seeded ninth, welcome Dallas Baptist (34-22-1), Louisiana Tech (42-19) and Air Force (30-27) to the Austin Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The action will start Friday afternoon.

Want to know more about this weekend? That's as easy as A-B-C.

A is for Air Force, the Mountain West tournament champion and Texas' first opponent. The Falcons are making their first NCAA appearance in 53 years. Air Force's last tournament game was a 5-4 loss to Idaho on May 26, 1969.

B is for the Big 12. This season, Dallas Baptist went 5-4 in games against Big 12 opponents. Air Force was 3-4, including a two-game series split with Texas. Louisiana Tech hasn't played a Big 12 team since 2018.

C is for Coppin State. The Eagles, playing in the Greenville Regional, have hit 28 home runs this season. By himself, Texas slugger Ivan Melendez has hit a school-record 29 homers. Melendez — who's tied for the national lead — has out-homered 30 Division I teams; Coppin State is the only one of those that made it to the NCAAs.

Texas infielder Murphy Stehly flaps his arm after hitting a double against Kansas on May 21. Hitting for power is nothing new to Stehly, who has 17 home runs this season, but playing in the NCAA Tournament is; he played in only one of Texas' 10 NCAA games last season.
Texas infielder Murphy Stehly flaps his arm after hitting a double against Kansas on May 21. Hitting for power is nothing new to Stehly, who has 17 home runs this season, but playing in the NCAA Tournament is; he played in only one of Texas' 10 NCAA games last season.

D is for doubles. Texas (142) and Air Force (141) are Nos. 5 and 6 nationally in doubles. Louisiana Tech (129) and Dallas Baptist (119) are Nos. 17 and 42 among the 293 Division I teams.

E is for eight. This is the eighth straight NCAA regional appearance for Dallas Baptist. That's the longest active streak among the teams in Austin.

F is for family. Dallas Baptist coach Dan Heefner is the father of Patriots third baseman Luke Heefner, the Missouri Valley Conference's freshman of the year, who's hitting .293.

G is for Gordon — Lucas Gordon — and fellow left-hander Pete Hansen, who have combined for a 17-2 record and a 2.74 ERA at Texas this year. Hansen is expected to get Friday's start for the Longhorns.

Georgetown High School product Cole Moore is making a big impact at Dallas Baptist. The Patriots first baseman is the team's leading hitter with a .356 average.
Georgetown High School product Cole Moore is making a big impact at Dallas Baptist. The Patriots first baseman is the team's leading hitter with a .356 average.

H is for homecoming. Dallas Baptist's two leading hitters are Central Texas products — first baseman Cole Moore (Georgetown) is hitting .356, and outfielder Jace Grady (Elgin) is hitting .307.

I is for intentional walk. Melendez has drawn free passes five times in his last 14 games. That's more than Dallas Baptist (four) and Air Force (three) have received all season.

J is for Jorge Corona, Louisiana Tech's primary catcher the past three seasons. Texas catcher Silas Ardoin was once committed to Louisiana Tech. Ardoin and Corona were both class of 2019 recruits.

K is for Kulasingam — Sam Kulasingam. The Air Force first baseman has recorded a school-record 103 hits this season.

L is for lopsided loss, as in Dallas Baptist's 21-2 loss to Evansville at its conference tournament.

M is for Messinger — Skyler Messinger, Texas' third baseman, who'll make his NCAA debut Friday. A graduate transfer who spent the past four seasons at Kansas, Messinger has played in 245 career games.

N is for next year. Starting with the 2023 season, Dallas Baptist and Louisiana Tech, who'll face off against each other in Friday's other first-round matchup, will be conference rivals. Dallas Baptist, which has spent the past nine years in the Missouri Valley Conference, is leaving for Conference USA.

O is for Omaha. Texas has 12 players who have been to the College World Series, college baseball's biggest stage. They include Austin Todd, who was injured for last year's CWS trip to Omaha but did have a reserve role on Texas' 2018 CWS team.

P is for powerful pitchers. Air Force's Paul Skenes has compiled a 10-2 record — and hit 12 home runs. Nationally, only 17 pitchers have won at least 10 games this season. Of those, Skenes and Central Michigan's Garrett Navarra (10-2, three homers) are the only ones who have also recorded an at-bat this season.

Q is for quick. Louisiana Tech's Taylor Young and Jace Grady have both been quick on the base paths. With 26 and 25 steals, they rank No. 33 and No. 37 nationally.

R is for rematches. Both of Friday's games will pair teams that have faced each other. Texas and Air Force split a midweek series in Austin in April (Air Force 14-2, Texas 12-10), and Dallas Baptist earned a 7-4 win at Louisiana Tech on March 29.

S is for Stehly — Murphy Stehly, the Texas utility man who's one of 18 players at the Austin Regional who have hit double-digit home runs this season. His 17 homers are second-most among that group. Stehly appeared in only one of UT's 10 NCAA Tournament games last year.

T is for temperature. The projected high temperature on Friday is 94 degrees. Texas-Air Force will start at 1 p.m.

U is for UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In five seasons under head coach David Pierce, the Longhorns are 10-1 in NCAA Tournament games (and 146-40 overall) at their home ballpark.

V is for victories. The four teams in the Austin regional averaged 37 wins this year.

W is for walk-off. Last week, walk-off singles in the ninth inning gave Louisiana Tech victories in both the semifinals and championship game at the Conference USA Tournament.

X is for Xavier. The 29 homers hit by both Melendez and Xavier's Luke Franzoni are tied atop the natonal leaderboard. Xavier (33-27) did not make the NCAA Tournament.

Y is for Young — Taylor Young, the Louisiana Tech shortstop, has scored a nation-leading 86 runs this season. Against Louisiana-Monroe on May 3, he scored four times despite not recording an official at-bat. He was walked three times and hit by two pitches in the Bulldogs' 11-5 win.

Z is for Zane — Zane Russell, a Dallas Baptist reliever, has posted a 4-0 record and a team-low 1.69 ERA. And Texas' Zane Morehouse (3-1, 5.75 ERA) has started in six of his 18 appearances on the mound.

Austin Regional

Friday's games

Air Force vs. Texas, 1 p.m., LHN, 104.9

Louisiana Tech vs. Dallas Baptist, 6:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: ABCs for baseball regionals for Texas, Air Force, Louisiana Tech, DBU