No. 2 Texas Returns Home For Midweek Clash With Incarnate Word

Fresh off another conference series win, the No. 2 Texas Longhorns (26-5) return home for another Tuesday midweek contest. This time, the Incarnate Word Cardinals (16-16) are making their way to UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Midweek games have been a bit of a mixed bag this season so far for the Longhorns, albeit more good than bad. The bad, however, was rather ugly as they dropped games in back-to-back weeks against the Tarleton State Texans and Houston Cougars.

Bouncing back last week, they snapped their mini skid with a 10-8 victory over the Texas State Bobcats. Now, they look to keep the momentum building from their series win over the South Carolina Gamecocks and take care of business against the Cardinals.

Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins celebrates after hitting a home run against the Auburn Tigers. | University of Texas Athletics

How do the Cardinals and Longhorns stack up?

How to watch/listen -

Tuesday April 7 - 6:30 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

A look at Incarnate Word's season so far -

The Cardinals enter this game sporting a 16-16 record through their first 32 games. While they've struggled to string together wins consecutively at times, they do have a four-game winning streak to their name. However, they've also lost three games in a row twice as well.

Incarnate Word by the numbers -

Record - 16-16

Runs scored - 246

Runs allowed - 258

Team Avg. - .293

Opponent Avg. - .300

Team ERA - 7.79

Opponent ERA - 6.93

Incarnate Word wins this game if...

It can take advantage of Texas' likely desire to not use its high-leverage weekend arms. Both of the Longhorns' midweek losses this season saw them struggle to limit the offensive damage done by both Tarleton State and Houston.

Even in their win last week against the Texas State Bobcats, they gave up eight runs and escaped the upset attempt with a 10-8 victory. This is the exact blueprint the Cardinals need to follow as they come into thier game against Texas.

If they can do that and strike early, they have a chance at leaving Tuesday night giving Texas another stunning upset loss in a midweek game.

Texas wins this game if...

It gets the bats going early and puts pressure on a Cardinals' pithcing staff that has struggled to prevent runs this season. The Longhorns have shown that when they are firing on all cylinders, scoring runs in bunches and putting up a crooked number in any given inning is a common occurence for them.

That is not always the case, however. Going cold at the plate has also been a recurring theme for the Longhorns, as they at times have struggled to string together hits and have gone multiple innings without getting a man on base.

This was the case in their losses to both the Texans and the Cougars. Avoid that pattern, though, and Texas has what it takes to leave this with another tally in the win column.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.