By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Here’s part three of our look at teams in the NCAA Austin Regional. The UTSA Roadrunners ran away with the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference and earned their first at-large bid to the tournament. They’ll be seeded second this weekend.
UTSA Roadrunners
Record: 44-13
Record in conference: 23-4, first in the American.
Seed in the Austin Regional: Second
Opener: The Roadrunners will play the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats Friday at 6 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
NCAA baseball history, highlights: UTSA has enjoyed only sporadic success in 34 seasons of Division I baseball, with three previous trips to NCAA tournaments — in 1994, 2005 and 2013. The first two NCAA sojourns came in the Southland Conference, followed by one in the Western Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners went 0-2 in each of the three tournaments.
Journey to the Austin Regional: It’s been long time coming for the Roadrunners. They have fielded solid teams in each of the past three seasons, only to come up short each time. They won 38, 38 and 32 games from 2022-24, respectively. In ‘22, it was particularly painful after they opened the Conference USA tournament with three wins in Hattiesburg, Miss., including back-to-back victories over nationally-ranked host Southern Mississippi. But after a one-run loss to Louisiana Tech in the finals, their name was not called on NCAA selection day. This season, the Roadrunners left no doubt, ripping off a school-record 44 wins, including non-conference victories over Texas and Texas A&M. Not to mention a 23-4 run to the AAC regular-season title. Even with a 2-2 trip to the conference tournament, it didn’t matter, as UTSA earned its first at-large bid and its highest regional seed ever.
The coach: Victories just keep piling up for Pat Hallmark. In eight seasons, including two at Incarnate Word and the past six at UTSA, he has amassed a 250-157 record. Take away the one year cut short by the pandemic (2020) and he’s averaging 35.7 wins a season.
Top players: UTSA centerfielder Mason Lytle entered the 2025 season under the microscope as the preseason player of the year in the AAC. Lytle more than lived up to billing as he was named following the regular season as both player of the year, defensive player of the year and first-team all conference. Other Roadrunners on the first team included pitcher Robert Orloski, catcher Andrew Stucky, shortstop Ty Hodge and outfielder James Taussig.
Quality depth: The Roadrunners’ quality did not stop there. Named to the AAC second team were leftfielder Drew Detlefsen and second baseman Jordan Ballin. Detlefsen also was named Co-Newcomer Position Player of the Year along with UAB’s Todd Clay.
Salty freshmen: Three first-year Roadrunners made the AAC all freshman team, including Ballin, first baseman Caden Miller and utility infielder Nathan Hodge, the younger brother of Ty Hodge.
Next up: The top-seeded Texas Longhorns.