With new fence under construction, Texas prepares for Houston Christian, NCAA regional

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle was at dinner when he heard the center field fence at UFCU Disch-Falk Field had fallen after a strong storm blew through Austin on Wednesday.

"I was with a buddy at dinner, and someone sent me a picture, and I said, 'I probably need to get to the ballpark.'"

A portion of the fence, plus the batter's eye, in center field came down after a long-track microburst worked its way across Austin, packing heavy rain and winds estimated at up to 70 mph. School officials said Wednesday night that they didn't expect the Austin regional tournament to be delayed when the Longhorns take the field Friday. Schlossnagle said he was impressed with the response by maintenance crews to get started rebuilding the fence.

"What was really cool was that by the time I got there, there were eight or nine people out there trying to assess what we were going to do," Schlossnagle said. "I talked to them for a while, they asked me my opinion on a few things, and what we needed from a barebones standpoint. We went and got our team picture taken at the Tower ... and by the time we got back, they had a lot of it torn down. They didn't need my 7 5/8 wrench."

The plan is to simply rebuild the main center field wall and not worry about a new batter's eye, the big backdrop behind the fence that provides hitters a clearer view of the pitches coming in. Crews were making progress Thursday, and athletic director Chris Del Conte has always said the ballpark would be playable by Friday.

Longhorns shortstop Jalin Flores said his house is near the ballpark and "got hit pretty hard," and when he saw the photos of the fence, he was "in shock."

Pitcher Luke Harrison said they've seen the batter's eye move in the wind before, but he didn't think it would fall. He has faith that maintenance crews will finish before first pitch.

"They'll find a way to get it done," he said.

How does Houston Christian match up with Texas?

Texas kicks off the regional against Houston Christian at 1 p.m. Friday, a team the Longhorns 10-runned earlier in the season. The Huskies have won six consecutive games, five of them in the Southland Conference tournament to win the title and secure the conference's automatic tournament bid. The Huskies scored 24 runs against New Orleans in the SLC championship series.

Schlossnagle gave a glowing review of the Huskies' first-year head coach Clay VanderLaan.

"He's done an unbelievable job. He's a superstar," Schlossnagle said. "HCU better take good care of him. They play clean baseball, and he's got a bright future ahead of him."

VanderLaan has led the Huskies to 32 wins this season, the most since they won 34 in 2013 as part of the now-defunct Great West Conference. The last time they won the conference tournament was in 2015, so it's been a while since the Huskies have played postseason baseball.

"They've won 30-plus games, and they won their conference tournament, so they're not just talented. They're also hot," Schlosnagle said. "They haven't announced their starting pitcher yet, but if it is who I think it will be, he's a senior and he won't be spooked."

After the media availability Thursday, Schlossnagle announced his starting pitcher, crafty left-hander Ethan Walker. He'll make his second career start for the Longhorns after throwing 4.2 innings against Tennessee in the SEC tournament.

Schlossnagle compared Houston Christian's style of play to that of Kentucky, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, teams that consistently put the ball in play on the ground in an attempt to put pressure on opposing defenses. The Huskies are No. 14 in Division I with 43 sacrifice bunts, so they aren't afraid to play the small game and manufacture runs. They probably won't hit it out of the ballpark with a .390 slugging percentage that ranks 255th of 299 Division I teams, so the Huskies' best bet is to get runners on, over and in.

What about Jonah Williams?

The dual-sport athlete will be available to play this weekend, but Schlossnagle isn't sure at what capacity. He said Thursday morning that he needed to talk with the training staff, but Williams planned on doing more agility work to test his injured hamstring.

"He'll be available, we just don't know what role," Schlossnagle said. "Whether it's playing defense, DH, pinch-hit ... we're going to do everything we can do to win the game, and if it includes him, but also, we can't get him hurt significantly."

Williams has been a nice addition in the outfield and on the bases with his speed, collecting 12 hits in 39 at-bats.