No. 14 Texas set to host Kansas State in weekend series

Brace yourselves.

Texas is coming.

The No. 14 Texas Longhorns will continue their home stand against the visiting Kansas State Wildcats this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Texas holds a 56-18-1 all-time advantage in the series, but lost two out of three games in last year’s matchup.

The Longhorns come into the weekend riding a two-game winning streak, and probably view anything short of a sweep this weekend as a lost opportunity. Texas couldn’t have had a tougher draw to open conference play — eight straight conference games, including five road games, against the only other ranked teams in the Big 12. The Longhorns split those series, going 4-4 against No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 24 Baylor, and No. 19 TCU.

Now, Texas turns to the presumably lighter portion of its conference schedule, starting with K-State.

The Wildcats come to Austin with a paltry 1-5 conference record and 14-20 overall record. K-State’s lone conference win came against No. 15 Texas Tech last Sunday on a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Red Raiders. If not for that, the Wildcats would have entered this series winless in the Big 12.

The Longhorns are expected to send their usual weekend trio of Bryce Elder, Blair Henley, and Coy Cobb to the mound. Elder has been rock-steady all year, pitching to the tune of a 2-1 record and 2.40 ERA. Though Henley started off the season on a rough note, the junior has been excellent in his last six starts, lowering his ERA to 3.86 to go with a 5-1 record. And lastly, freshman Coy Cobb has served well as the third starter, even if the win-loss column doesn’t show it. Though he’s 0-2, Cobb sports a 3.16 ERA and is coming off arguably his best performance thus far in the season — a 7.0 inning performance against Xavier in which he allowed just five hits, two walks, and one earned run to go with eight strikeouts.

You can catch the action live and in person at UFCU Disch-Falk Field this weekend, watch live on TV on the Longhorn Network, or tune in on the radio through 104.9 The Horn. Friday’s game is set to start at 6:30 p.m. Central, and Saturday’s and Sunday’s games are both scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Central.

This weekend should be a fun one if you’re in Austin; the Orange-White game (and all the scheduled festivities around it) is also on Saturday. But don’t forget to also show some love and hook’em’s for the boys in burnt orange on the other side of I-35. Sunday features the first-ever “Bark in the Park,” with more information about that event available here.