Lael Lockhart Jr. and the baseball team will face a tough test on the road as they travel to Austin to play the Texas Longhorns. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar

After getting the series sweep against the Wichita State Shockers this weekend, the Cougars have moved into first place in the American Athletic Conference. Now the team is taking a one-game excursion from conference play as they travel to Austin to play the University of Texas Longhorns.

Prior to Sunday, the Longhorns were riding a four-game win streak, but the team has still won six of its last eight games. Ranked No. 19 in the nation by D1Baseball.com, the Longhorns have a similar record to the Cougars at 28-15.

Just like the Cougars, the Longhorns are in a close conference race. At 11- 4 in conference play, the Longhorns are in a three-way race between Oklahoma State and Texas Tech for the Big 12 regular season title.

This was meant to be the second of two games where the Cougars traveled to play against the two biggest schools in the state: Texas A&M and Texas. The Texas A&M game, originally scheduled for April 3, was cancelled due to inclement weather and was not rescheduled. So, all Tuesday’s game proves to be is a late season matchup against a hot team in baseball.

The Cougars and Longhorns last played each other in April 2016 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. The Cougars prevailed 3-2, but the 129th game between the two schools looks to be a much different affair.

This time the Cougars have to go to Austin where the Longhorns are 21-7 at home while the Cougars are only 4-8 away from Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park.

The best hitter for the Longhorns is infielder Kody Clemens, the latest of former World Series champion Roger Clemens’ sons to pass through Texas. Clemens has started all 42 games for the Longhorns, leading the team with 46 RBIs, 13 home runs, 57 hits and a batting average of .356.

It has yet to be announced who will be pitching for the Longhorns, but they used all three of their starters in their series against New Orleans this weekend. This means a relief pitcher will likely take to the mound, none of whom have numbers that indicate they can shut down an offense.

Ironically, the Cougars will have also used up their starting rotation in their most recent series against Wichita State, meaning they too will have to resort to a relief pitcher.

The 129th game between the two teams is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Austin.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Road game versus Texas a matchup of relievers” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar