Last season, two of Lebarron Johnson Jr.'s 13 starts were on Fridays.

That statistic comes with a caveat. Johnson was not the Texas baseball team's Friday starter. One of those starts was the second game of a doubleheader against San Jose State. He did pitch against West Virginia on Friday one week later, but only because that series started on a Thursday.

This year, however, Johnson's Friday starts will hold more gravitas.

Johnson will be Texas' starting pitcher when the Longhorns open their season Friday at home against San Diego.

"I am going to confirm that I am Friday night," he told reporters Thursday.

Head coach David Pierce said Charlie Hurley will get the start Saturday but that a Sunday starter hasn't been named yet.

"I've been working for this since last year, and I know I was capable of it," Johnson said. "It's the reason why I came back, because I know I can take on the job and handle it."

Since Pierce took over ahead of the 2017 season, the title of Texas' Friday starter has been bestowed upon Nolan Kingham, Bryce Elder, Ty Madden, Pete Hansen and Lucas Gordon. Two of those pitchers — Madden and Gordon — went on to win the Big 12 pitcher of the year award. And Kingham, Madden and Hansen led Texas to the College World Series. Elder's 2020 season was cut short by the pandemic, but he has since quickly made it to the big leagues.

When asked why Johnson was selected to follow in those footsteps, Pierce said, "I think he's one of the best pitchers in the country. I know everybody in this building knows that when he pitches that we in our mind know we're going to win."

Feeling safe with Johnson on the mound

Statistically, it makes sense. Johnson, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who was 8-4 with a 2.91 ERA last season, began 2023 as a bullpen option and a midweek starter, then threw five shutout innings against eventual national champion LSU. He claimed a spot in the weekend rotation in May and shined in that role as well. He later went the distance in a 4-1 regional win over Miami and became the first UT pitcher in nine years to throw a complete game in the NCAA Tournament.

"Every time I watch him throw, I'm kind of mad that he's got all that," Gordon said at UT's alumni game earlier this month. Gordon was drafted last summer by the Chicago White Sox.

When Texas fans last saw Johnson, he was unable to get through the fifth inning of the second game of the Stanford super regional. Texas dropped that game 8-3. The next day, the Longhorns were eliminated when a wayward ball was lost in the lights at Sunken Diamond in the ninth inning of a walk-off win for Stanford.

Eight months later, No. 16 Texas has been picked by the Big 12 coaches to finish second in the conference.

"I'm just really ready to get out there, and I know all the guys are ready too," Johnson said. "A lot of the guys who left, they couldn't come back like I can and repeat what we did and do better. We're just pumped to get back to regionals and get to Omaha."

'A guy that the team can really lean on'

The Longhorns return a handful of key contributors from last year's team. There's third baseman Peyton Powell, who hit .339 during a breakout campaign in 2023. Left fielder Porter Brown is set for his sixth season of college baseball. Second baseman Jack O'Dowd is back, and so is Jalin Flores, who was used as both a shortstop and a designated hitter. Jared Thomas hit .321 as a freshman first baseman but might now find playing time in the outfield.

And as O'Dowd put it, Johnson will be the "centerpiece" of the pitching staff. Johnson says his mentality won't change as the Friday starter. Mechanically, he does want to work his slider and splitter more into a repertoire of pitches that includes a fastball that has topped out at 98 miles per hour.

"He's a guy that the team can really lean on," O'Dowd said. "He doesn't say much, but when he says something, guys listen and guys trust him; they trust his work."

This weekend series against San Diego kicks off a string of eight straight games for Texas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to start the season. Houston Christian and Cal Poly will come to town next week, and St. John's is UT's scheduled guest for Feb. 27. That's the most home games to open a season for Texas since 2013.

Under Pierce, Texas is 4-3 in season openers. The Longhorns, however, last lost a home opener in 2017.

"Going into opening weekend, it's always just a question mark on what to expect," O'Dowd said. "More than anything, I just want to see us compete, and I want to see us go out there and play hard. We just need to bring it every day, and I want to see us start to do that and try and set the tone for the season in that way."

Texas' season opener

San Diego at No. 16 Texas, UFCU Disch-Falk Field, LHN, 1300

7 p.m. Friday — UT RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. vs. RHP Josh Randall; 2:30 p.m. Saturday — UT RHP Charlie Hurley vs. RHP Logan Reddemann; 1 p.m. Sunday — UT TBA vs. RHP Ryan Kysar

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas baseball team names its ace pitcher for the upcoming season