Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

UTSA makes history again by winning its first game in the NCAA baseball playoffs

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James Taussig three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig’s three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning helped boost the UTSA Roadrunners to a 10-2 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats on opening day of the NCAA Austin Regional. The win was historic in that the team had never won a game in the NCAA playoffs, going 0-2 each time in three previous trips. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

AUSTIN — UTSA’s dream season just keeps getting more and more surreal by the day. The Roadrunners won the first NCAA playoff game in their 34-year baseball history Friday night by defeating the Kansas State Wildcats 10-2 on opening day of the Austin Regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Norris McClure hit a solo home run in the third inning and James Taussig added a three-run shot over the right field wall in the sixth to back the pitching of Zach Royse and others, who held the Wildcats to more than five runs below their season average.

On top of all that, the team had another, more personal reason to celebrate. Assistant coach Ryan Aguayo took an early Friday morning drive home to be with his wife, who was in labor. She gave birth to the couple’s daughter at about 9:30 a.m.

Later, Aguayo drove back to Austin and was at the game. “I told him, ‘We could run it without you,’ ” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark told reporters. “But he’s here.”

The emotions will continue to swirl within the camp of the second-seeded Roadrunners over the next 24 hours as they prepare to face the host and No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns on Saturday night.

Norris McClure home run. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Norris McClure energized the team by slashing an opposite-field solo homer in the third inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

First the Wildcats (31-25) will play the HCU Huskies (32-24) in an elimination game Saturday at 2 p.m. First pitch for the Roadrunners (45-13) and the Longhorns (43-12) will be at 8 p.m., with the winner advancing to the regional finals.

Earlier Friday, Texas surged with a five-run fifth inning to down HCU, 7-1, without using any of its front-line pitchers.

Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said lefthander Luke Harrison would “probably” pitch Saturday for the Longhorns, the regular-season champions from the Southeastern Conference and the second-seeded team among 64 in the NCAA field. Roadrunners coach Pat Hallmark said in the postgame that he isn’t ready to name his starter yet.

Royse (9-4) answered the call in the program’s first NCAA game in 12 years, earning the victory by working five and a third innings and allowing only one run on three hits. He struck out five and walked three.

Robert Orloski and Christian Okerholm closed in the final three and two thirds innings. Orloski performed erratically at times but ended up getting some important outs. He yielded one run on three hits, walked one and struck out four.

A defining moment for Orloski came in the top of the seventh when he gave up a one-out solo home run to Nick English. At that point, he continued to struggle, walking Shintaro Inoue and giving up a single to Maximus Martin.

Zach Royse was the UTSA starting pitcher. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Starting pitcher Zach Royse (9-4) earned the victory and his coach’s praise for holding the explosive Wildcats to one run and three hits in five and a third innings. – Photo by Joe Alexander

But with runners at first and second base and UTSA leading by five runs, the Idaho native fanned sluggers Seth Dardar and Keegan O’Connor to end the threat. O’Connor had 16 home runs this year and Dardar 12.

Royse, from Katy Cinco Ranch, worked his way out of major trouble in the fourth inning. At the time, the Roadrunners led 2-0, and Kansas State loaded the bases with no outs. The Wildcats ultimately produced only one run out of the situation on a sacrifice fly by freshman AJ Evasco.

Royse retired Kansas State veteran David Bishop on an outfield fly ball to end it.

“Zach Royse was the difference,” Hallmark said. “It’s fantastic. One of the better pitched games of the whole season against a team that can really hit. Obviously the three-run homer was really big, too. I’m just proud of the team. Zach was fabulous.”

UTSA entered the NCAA playoffs coming off a record-setting regular season during which they established a number of firsts. Maybe most importantly, they qualified for the national tournament without even having to win a conference tournament for an automatic bid. They did it by rolling through the regular season, topping 40 wins for the first time, along the way to a 44-win regular season.

In the AAC, they dominated from start to finish, establishing the best record in conference history at 23-4. Even after going 2-2 and getting bounced out of the conference tournament, the Roadrunners would not be denied. Perhaps bolstered by all of it, including wins over Texas A&M and Texas, they beat yet another team from a power conference — in an NCAA setting, no less.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark in the NCAA baseball tournament regional against Kansas State. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark has led the Roadrunners to an NCAA victory for the first time. The win lifted UTSA to 45-13 on the season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I’m just so happy for the team and the 29 other guys that suit up every game with us,” Taussig said. “We celebrate for them. Super happy for coach. All of them, coach (Ryan) Aguayo, coach Hallmark, coach (Zach) Butler, they took a chance on me and told me this was the plan. One game isn’t all we had in mind. But you got to start somewhere. I’m just real happy for the team.”

Taussig, one of the team’s hottest offensive players in April and May, credited Aguayo for scouting reports that allow him to swing freely on pitches that he anticipates.

He said he was looking for a changeup elevated in the strike zone from Kansas State reliever Ty Ruhl, who had just entered the game in place of starter Jacob Frost.

“I was looking for the changeup up (in the zone) and I got it first pitch,” he said. “Coach Hallmark always tells us the first pitch is the best one to hit and I was ready to go. I got my best pass off. Controlled what I can control. Bat speed … and I got the results.”

Saturday’s schedule

Losers’ bracket: HCU vs. Kansas State, 2 p.m.
Winners’ bracket: UTSA vs. Texas, 8 p.m.

Seeding, records

1 – Texas (43-12)
2 – UTSA (45-13)
3 – Kansas State (31-25)
4 – HCU (32-24)

Notable

The Texas Longhorns and the UTSA Roadrunners are 1-0 in the double-elimination, Austin Regional. Both the Kansas State Wildcats and the HCU Huskies are 0-1.

Quotable

What does it mean to get the program’s first NCAA victory? Said Coach Pat Hallmark, “I don’t know. I’m trying to get three wins, to be honest with you. That’s what I told the guys when the game ended. I said, ‘Be happy. Enjoy it. Enjoy the moment.’ But we’re here to get three wins.”

Three wins would make the Roadrunners the regional champions. Each of 16 regional champs around the nation will move on next week to play in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional. The winners of the eight super regionals will advance to the Men’s College World Series.

James Taussig three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig connects on what would be a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig follows through on his home-run swing. – Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. UTSA beat Kansas State 10-2 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

James Taussig reacts when he knows his drive has cleared the wall in right field. It was his 10th homer of the season and his sixth since April 25. – Photo by Joe Alexander

NCAA playoffs: Fifth-inning hit parade lifts Texas over HCU to open Austin Regional

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns started the month of May laying out into a swoon, losing three games at Arkansas and then dropping two of three at home to Florida. After those performances, some of the luster from Coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first season at UT started to fade. But now that the end of the month is near and the NCAA playoffs have begun, the shine has returned to the Longhorns, who are darlings of their fans once again.

Texas, seeded second nationally in the NCAA tournament, erupted for five runs on six hits in the fifth inning Friday afternoon to down the HCU Huskies 7-1 in the opening game of the Austin Regional. A crowd announced at 7,673 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field watched as the Longhorns, seeded first in the region, handled the No 4 Huskies without much problem and moved into a winners’ bracket game Saturday.

In Friday’s second game, the second seeded UTSA Roadrunners and the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats were set to play at 6 p.m. The UTSA/Kansas State loser will face HCU in Saturday’s opener at 2 p.m. The winner will meet the Longhorns at 8 p.m.

Leading by one run going into the bottom of the fifth, the Longhorns took the opportunity to crank the offense against HCU starter Parker Edwards. Jonah Williams led off by reaching on a fielding error and stole second. On the steal attempt, Williams appeared to hit Huskies second baseman Jeremy Rader feet first. After getting attention from trainers on the field, Rader came out of the game to applause from UT’s fans.

Later, the fans were on their feet for most of the remainder of the inning as the Longhorns stroked five straight hits. The first was a two-run single by Kimble Schuessler. Next, Adrian Rodriguez and Casey Borba followed with RBI singles to center. For Rodriguez, the hit extended his batting streak to 16 games. Will Gasparino brought in the last run of the inning with a double into left field. When Jalin Flores raced from second to home plate, the Longhorns had built a 7-1 lead.

Records

HCU 32-24
Texas 43-12

Saturday’s games

Losers’ bracket: HCU vs. UTSA or Kansas State, 2 p.m.
Winners’ bracket: Texas vs. UTSA or Kansas State, 8 p.m.

Notable

Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said his starter for Saturday is “probably” lefthander Luke Harrison, who is 5-1 with a 2.98 earned run average.

Harrison, a redshirt junior from Friendswood, has held opposing hitters to a .235 average. Schlossnagle was able to get through the first game of the regional without using any of his front-line pitchers. “It gives us the best chance,” the coach said. “It sets us up as good as we can be set up.”

Ethan Walker, Grayson Saunier and Hudson Hamilton combined to limit HCU to one run on eight hits. Saunier, who yielded one run on five hits in three and two thirds innings, earned the victory. He improved to 2-0. Parker Edwards (3-5) was the loser for HCU. He gave up seven runs (only one earned) on seven hits in four and two thirds innings.

HCU actually out-hit Texas, 8-7. HCU second baseman Jeremy Rader was sent for imaging to determine the nature of his injury, apparently to his collar bone, Huskies coach Clay VanderLaan said. “When we get back to the hotel we’ll evaluate and see how he is,” the coach said.

Reaching for new heights: UTSA plays Kansas State in the NCAA tournament

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By Jerry Briggs
Staff writer

AUSTIN – The UTSA Roadrunners were peppered once again Thursday with questions about their breakthrough season.

In response, two of the leaders on the team talked about gratitude in describing how it felt to become only the fourth team in program history to reach the NCAA baseball tournament.

Centerfielder Mason Lytle said it feels good to get it done for teammates like pitcher Braylon Owens, who flanked him during media interviews in advance of the Austin Regional.

Looking for the program’s first NCAA tournament victory, Lytle and Owens and the second-seeded Roadrunners open against the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

“We’re extremely grateful to be here,” Lytle told the assembled media Thursday morning. “We’re grateful to finally be the team to crack through.”

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark, in response to another question, tried to explain how the team eclipsed the 40-win mark with this group, in particular.

He’s had good teams before. So, why this one? How did this team get to 44?

Hallmark started to show some emotion but then caught himself, knowing that maybe it’s time to start focusing on how to win playoff games.

“My thoughts are similar to Mason’s probably,” the coach said. “I’m grateful to be part of it. I’m proud of ‘em.”

Then he added: “I think, uh, it’s time to turn the page. It’s a new season.”

The new season starts at 1 p.m. Friday when the Texas Longhorns take the field against the Houston Christian Huskies. It continues in the nightcap as the Roadrunners play at 6 against the power-hitting Wildcats from the Big 12.

“These people here with us this weekend, these people are really good,” Hallmark said. “It’s going to take the very best of us to win this thing.”

To beat the Wildcats, the Roadrunners will need to pitch well. Starter Zach Royse will need to pitch precisely, because Kansas State hit 92 home runs this year, which ranks 24th in the nation.

Royse yielded three home runs against Tulane in his most recent start. Hallmark, in reviewing the Wildcats’skills in film sessions, said their players swing “off their back leg.”

“I like the way they swing,” he said. “I won’t like the way they swing Friday, because they take a dangerous passes. (But) I think they’re trained well.”

Offensively, UTSA will need to play its game of taking free passes on walks and hit by pitches, and then moving those runners along with clutch hitting.

The Roadrunners will need to be ready for several Wildcats pitchers who throw in the mid-90s, Hallmark said.

“It’s not a surprise,” he said. “They’re a Power 4 team. It’s what you typically see from the Power 4 … The talent’s there. They’re well-coached.”

K-State coach Pete Hughes has won 851 games in his career.

His career began in 1997-98 in San Antonio at Division III Trinity University, where he was 52-30 in two seasons. He went on to coach in Division I at Boston College, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas State.

Hughes, now in his seventh year at K-State, said he admires the way Hallmark works.

“Coach Hallmark is one of the most underrated coaches in the country,” he said. “He’s won wherever they’ve given him the chance to lead. I’ll enjoy watching him coach and coach against him.

“It’ll be my first time coaching against coach Hallmark and a team that’s won 44 games. (They’re) very impressive offensively with a veteran pitching staff.”

Kansas State’s personnel has changed dramatically from last year, when the Wildcats won the Fayetteville Regional.

But K-State reliever JJ Stack, one of the returning players, said some things have not changed.

“From last year to this year, we just kind of stuck with the same philosophy,” he said. “Kept a chip on our shoulder. We try to play with a lot of energy. We like to have fun when we play. So, taking that from last year and putting it on this team is definitely the thing we’re trying to do.”

NCAA Austin Regional

Friday’s games
At UFCU Disch-Falk Field

Fourth-seeded Houston Christian Huskies vs. No. 1 Texas Longhorns, 1 p.m.
No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats vs. second-seeded UTSA Roadrunners, 6 p.m.

Records

Texas (42-12)
UTSA (44-13)
Kansas State (31-24)
Houston Christian (32-23)

Austin Regional is expected to be played as scheduled after storm damage at UFCU Disch-Falk Field

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

AUSTIN — The weather turned wild on Wednesday night at the University of Texas. A storm that packed wind estimated at 70 mph, according to a local media outlet, knocked down a portion of the centerfield fence at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

At first glance, it looked like a situation that could affect this weekend’s NCAA Austin Regional baseball tournament. Officials, however, cautioned fans not to worry.

“Still scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Friday,” a University of Texas school spokesman said, alluding to the time for the first pitch to be thrown in a game pitting the Texas Longhorns and the Houston Christian University Huskies.

A second game will follow at 6 p.m. between the Kansas State Wildcats and the UTSA Roadrunners.

Austin Regional: Schlossnagle’s first team at Texas has high hopes for a run to Omaha

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In the last of our four installments on teams in the Austin Regional, we’ll examine the Texas Longhorns’ success this season and how they have lived up to the hype after the hiring of Coach Jim Schlossnagle last summer.

The Texas Longhorns

Record: 42-12

Record in conference: 22-8, first in the Southeastern Conference

Seed in the Austin Regional: First (second nationally behind Vanderbilt)

Opener: Texas hosts Houston Christian on Friday at 1 p.m.

NCAA history, highlights: The Longhorns have won six national titles and have made a record 38 College World Series appearances. This is their 62nd trip to the NCAA tournament.

Journey to the Austin Regional: Coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first season in Austin has been a memorable one, starting with his controversial exit last summer at Texas A&M and his hiring at intrastate rival Texas. Only days after leading the Aggies to the Men’s College World Series title game, he accepted a job to coach the Longhorns. This spring, the Longhorns sizzled with 17 straight wins at one point, a streak broken by a loss at home to UTSA. Then they picked up steam when they entered the SEC schedule, winning their first seven series and reaching No. 1 in the polls. Though they lost some sizzle late by dropping three straight games at Arkansas and two of three at home to Florida, they secured the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA field based on their SEC regular-season title. With their RPI at No. 4, the Longhorns are hosting a regional for the first time since 2022.

The coach: Schlossnagle has won 987 games in stops at UNLV, TCU, Texas A&M and Texas. He’s coached in 19 NCAA regionals (this will be his 20th), nine super regionals and seven Men’s College World Series. He’s led his teams to six MCWS appearances in the last 10 years.

Top players: Pitcher Dylan Volantis and catcher Rylan Galvan were both named first-team, all Southeastern Conference. Volantis was the SEC Freshman of the Year. Galvan, first baseman Kimble Schuessler, second baseman Ethan Mendoza and outfielder Will Gasparino all were named to the SEC All Defensive Team.

More on Volantis: The 6-foot-6, 212-pound Volantis became just the fourth Longhorn to receive conference freshman of the year honors, joining Chance Ruffin (2008), Erich Weiss (2011) and Parker French (2012). For the season, he finished 4-0 with a 1.66 ERA and 12 saves.

Pride of South Texas: Rylan Galvan, a junior from Sinton, hit .299 with 14 home runs and 46 RBI this season. Galvan played at Sinton under coach Adrian Alaniz, who pitched for the Longhorns under coach Augie Garrido.

Belyeu’s return: Max Belyeu, the Big 12 Player of the Year last season, returned to the Longhorns lineup in the SEC tournament quarterfinals against Tennessee. He went 0 for 5 in his return after getting sidelined with a fractured a thumb on March 28 at Missouri.

San Antonio connections: Ruger Riojas, in his first year at Texas, pitched the past two seasons at UTSA. UT shortstop Jalin Flores played in high school at Brandeis in the Northside Independent School District. UT assistant coach Michael Cantu played two games for the San Antonio Missions in 2022.

NCAA Austin Regional: Second-seeded UTSA hopes to build on a dream season

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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.

NCAA baseball: Kansas State aims for a second straight regional surprise

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Here’s my second story on teams playing in the NCAA Austin Regional. In an earlier dispatch, we looked at the fourth-seeded Houston Christian Huskies. Now we’re breaking down the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats, with the two seed UTSA Roadrunners and the No. 1 Texas Longhorns to come.

Kansas State Wildcats

Record: 31-24

Record in conference: 17-13, sixth in the Big 12

Seed in the Austin Regional: Third

Regional opener: Kansas State plays No. 2 UTSA Friday at 6 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

NCAA baseball history, highlights: The Wildcats are making their sixth NCAA appearance and their second straight. Last year, they reached the super regional round after entering the Fayetteville Regional as a No. 3 seed. They swept three straight games, including a victory over Arkansas, to reach the Charlottesville Super Regional. There, they lost two straight to Virginia.

Journey to the Austin Regional: The Wildcats had an up and down ride. They swept three pre-conference games from Arkansas, Michigan and TCU at a classic in Arlington, started Big 12 play with an 8-1 record and then lost series down the stretch to Oklahoma State, Kansas and Cincinnati. The Wildcats were 18-3 at home, 7-18 on the road and 6-3 on neutral sites.

The coach: Pete Hughes has won 851 games in his career. His head coaching career began in 1997-98 in San Antonio at Trinity University, where he was 52-30 in two seasons. He went on to coach in Division I at Boston College, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas State. Hughes is in his seventh season at K-State.

An offense with pop: The Wildcats ranked 24th in the nation with 92 home runs this year.

Southpaw city: Kansas State’s three main starters and one of its top relievers are lefthanders. Jacob Frost, Lincoln Sheffield and Michael Quevedo have combined for 42 starts. Six-foot-four Adam Arther (2.22 ERA) is a weapon out of the bullpen.

Top players: Outfielder Maximus Martin and outfielder/catcher Keegan O’Connor made all Big 12 second-team. Freshman outfielder AJ Evasco was an all freshman honoree. Home run threats include O’Connor with 16, Martin (14), Seth Dardar (12) and Dee Kennedy (11). Martin leads with a .332 average, followed by Dardar (.326), O’Connor (.323) and Evasco (.306).

Pitching struggles: The Wildcats have yielded 73 earned runs in 87 innings in May for an ERA of 7.55.

Next up: The UTSA Roadrunners

Austin Regional baseball: Taking a look at the Houston Christian Huskies

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Good evening, all. Here is the first of four graphic stories on each of the teams in this week’s NCAA Austin Regional baseball tournament. We’ll start with the fourth-seeded Houston Christian Huskies, with information to come on the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats, the No. 2 UTSA Roadrunners and the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.

Houston Christian Huskies

Record: 32-23

Record in conference: 17-13, sixth in the Southland Conference

Seed in the Austin Regional: Fourth

Opener: The Huskies will take on the top-seeded Texas Longhorns at 1 p.m. Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

NCAA baseball history, highlights: The Huskies are making only their second trip to the NCAA tournament. In 2015, they played in Houston and lost to the top-seeded Houston Cougars 6-4 before they were eliminated by No. 2 Rice, 3-1.

Journey to the Austin Regional: Last summer, HCU promoted Clay VanderLaan from assistant to head coach following the resignation of Lance Berkman. Under Berkman, a former Houston Astros star who grew up in New Braunfels, the Huskies struggled for three seasons with a combined record of 47-104, including 27-44 in conference. Three weeks after Berkman departed, HCU offered the job to VanderLaan, who had limited experience at the collegiate level, working previously at Division II Saginaw Valley State and for a little more than one season at the NAIA University of St. Thomas in Houston. Since then, VanderLaan has stepped up to the Division I challenge, taking the Huskies to their first winning season in eight years. HCU won its last six games, including a Parker Edwards-led 5-0 sweep in the SLC postseason, to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Included in the run were two wins in Edinburg at UT Rio Grande Valley, a top 40 RPI team, and the last two in Houston against the University of New Orleans.

Top players: Multi-talented Parker Edwards earned MVP honors in the SLC tournament by starting and winning two games as a pitcher. Edwards also contributed as a hitter, lashing three hits and driving in three runs in a 16-11 title-clinching victory over New Orleans. Second-team, all-SLC outfielder Rhett Hendricks did his part with three RBI combined in the two wins over the Privateers. Other threats at the plate include Jack Walker, Kenneth Dutka and Matthew Leiterman. Edwards leads the team in both home runs (9) and RBI (47).

Pitching: Edwards, Joshua Caravalho and Ben Smith are HCU’s primary starters. Edwards is 3-4 with a 3.93 earned run average and leads the team with 84 and 2/3 innings. Caravalho is 9-3 and Smith 4-6. Ben Norton, with a 2.93 ERA. leads the relief corps with 25 appearances out of the bullpen.

Did you know: The UTSA brother duo of Ty and Nathan Hodge decommitted from HCU after Berkman’s resignation and elected to sign with the Roadrunners.

More history: Founded in the 1960, the school formerly known as Houston Baptist University played sports at the NCAA level from 1967 to 1990, including a run of 16 years in Division I through 1989. Following its initial run in the NCAA, the school aligned with the NAIA and remained at that lower level for 17 years. After re-entering NCAA Division I in 2011, HCU elected to join the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.

Seeded second in the NCAA Austin Regional, UTSA didn’t need to worry about being left out

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Mason Lytle, UTSA, center field.

UTSA’s Mason Lytle, the American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year, will lead the UTSA Roadrunners into the NCAA Austin Regional on Friday in a matchup against the Big 12’s Kansas State Wildcats. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After reading through some information early Monday on how to deal with worst-case scenarios in life, UTSA’s Pat Hallmark reported to Roadrunner Field.

The coach of the American Athletic Conference’s 44-win, regular-season champions wanted to be prepared just in case something crazy happened and his team was left out of the 64-team NCAA tournament.

As it turned out, Hallmark could have skipped the philosophy lesson and maybe just kicked back and had another cup of coffee.

Pat Hallmark-title celebration

UTSA’s Pat Hallmark (at right) coached the Roadrunners to a 44-17 record, including 23-4 in the American Athletic Conference.. – File photo by Jerry Briggs

That’s because the NCAA announced that the Roadrunners will play in the national tournament this weekend at the Austin Regional.

Asked about the emotions in the locker room before the televised bracket reveal, Hallmark said there was mostly excitement.

“We thought we were in,” he said. “We put a good resume’ (out) there. The championship holds a lot of weight, from what I’m told, and the way we won (it) — four losses over a 27-game conference season, is pretty impressive.”

At that point, Hallmark started to tease assembled members of the media, testing their knowledge of Latin and ancient philosophy.

“We felt like we were in,” Hallmark said, continuing his story. “Of course, you never know. So there’s always a little bit of nagging thought. So I did a little reading this morning on Premeditatio Malorum.”

Say what?

Reporters didn’t say a word.

“You know what that means?” Hallmark asked a reporter. “(It’s) preparing for the worst. But I did think we were in.”

Armed with a 44-13 record, including 23-4 in conference, everyone associated with the program figured that they would have a place in the field.

But after a 2-2 run in the AAC tournament and an earlier than expected exit in the semifinals, a question loomed as to whether it might affect their seeding or where they would play.

That question, too, was dispelled.

UTSA, named to play in the tournament for the first time in their history with an at-large bid, drew a second seed in the region behind the host Texas Longhorns and ahead of the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats.

The Houston Christian University Huskies were named as the fourth seed. As a result, Texas will open the regional on Friday at 1 p.m. against Houston Christian. UTSA will play Kansas State in the second game at 6 p.m.

The regional is double elimination and will run through Sunday, or, if necessary, through Monday.

For weeks, UTSA had been projected by national media outlets as a No. 2 seed, and nothing that happened last weekend at the conference tournament in Clearwater, Fla., seemed to make any difference.

Relief pitcher Robert Orloski. UTSA beat Youngstown State 4-3 on James Taussig's walk-off hit on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Relief pitcher Robert Orloski went 8-0 with a 2.92 earned run average and eight saves during the regular season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Asked if he thinks this was a “reward bid” for the team’s body of work over the entire season, Hallmark said he doesn’t know.

“Quite frankly, I’m not sure and uh, I don’t care,” he said laughing. “We got a tough regional like they all are. So, again, we’re just eager and hungry to go to work and prepare so we give ourselves a best chance to win on Friday.”

UTSA centerfielder Mason Lytle said he likes the destination because it gives players’ families an opportunity to see the games live, without having to travel out of state.

“Wherever we were going to go, it was going to be exciting to play,” he said “(But) it’s nice playing an hour away, we’ll have fans that can travel. We have a lot of Texas people on the team, so we’ll get a lot of family. So that’ll be pretty nice.

“We’ve already played there once, so we’re pretty familiar and, uh, it’s our big brother school. So it’ll be a fun time.”

In their best win of the year, the Roadrunners defeated the “big brother” Longhorns 8-7 in 12 innings on March 18.

UTSA pitcher Robert Orloski said he started to think as early as last fall that his teammates had a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.

“We were all intense the whole time,” he said. “We never took a day off. Even when it was a lull, the team was still intense. I just think right when the fall started, we knew we had a chance, that we had a good team.”

UTSA baseball is headed to Austin for the NCAA tournament

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners will play in the Austin Regional in the NCAA baseball tournament and will face the Kansas State Wildcats on opening day Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, according to the bracket released Monday.

The Texas Longhorns are the hosts in the regional and the No. 2 overall seed in the 64-team tournament. As the regional No. 1, the Longhorns will open with the four-seed Houston Christian Huskies.

The Roadrunners are seeded second in the region, taking on the No. 3 Wildcats of the Big 12. On Friday, the Longhorns will play the Huskies at 1 p.m. The Roadrunners and the Wildcats will play at 6 p.m. Both games are on ESPN +.

For UTSA, it is the program’s first NCAA regional appearance in 12 years and fourth overall. Facing Kansas State, UTSA will be looking for its first victory in NCAA competition. The team bowed out with 0-2 records in its previous three trips.

Records

(Regional seed, school, records, conference finish)
1) Texas 42-12, 22-8, first in the Southeastern Conference
2) UTSA 44-13, 23-4, first in the American Athletic Conference
3) Kansas State 31-24, 17-13 sixth in the Big 12
4) Houston Christian 32-23, 17-13, sixth in the Southland Conference

Notable

The Roadrunners are playing in an NCAA regional for only the fourth time since the program’s inception in 1992, with the other three in 1994, 2005 and 2013.

This is UTSA’s first regional appearance after receiving an at-large bid, with the other three coming as a conference tournament winner with an automatic bid.

In the Roadrunners’ first regional, under Coach Jimmy Shankle, they played in Austin in the NCAA Central Region as the fifth seed, where they lost the first game to No. 19 Nevada 11-8 and fell to Arkansas State 10-5.

In 2005, with a team coached by Sherman Corbett, UTSA competed in the Waco Regional as the fourth seed, taking on No. 6 Baylor in the first game and losing 8-3. The Roadrunners were then eliminated in the second game against Stanford, falling 6-2.

In UTSA’s most recent regional appearance, the Roadrunners competed in the Corvallis Regional in 2013 under Jason Marshall as the fourth seed, where they fell 5-4 to No. 3 Oregon State and 6-1 to Texas A&M.

UTSA’s coach Pat Hallmark is the architect of this year’s team that set the school record for victories in a season. Hallmark, a Houston native, is in his sixth year as head coach of the Roadrunners.

Quotable

“We’re excited and ready to go to work,” Hallmark said. “That’s really the reaction. I’m antsy to get back (in the office) in RACE and pull up some video and start scouting.”

Asked if he thinks this was a “reward bid” for the team’s body of work with a two seed and a game close to home, Hallmark said he doesn’t know.

“Quite frankly, I’m not sure and uh, I don’t care,” he said laughing. “We got a tough regional like they all are. So, again, we’re just eager and hungry to go to work and prepare so we give ourselves a best chance to win on Friday.”

Coming out of the AAC tournament, Hallmark said he guessed that the NCAA committee would send UTSA to a regional in the state of Texas or in the western United States.

He said having his team prepare to play in Austin has some advantages, such as being able to stay one more night in San Antonio before traveling to Austin to practice on Thursday.

Traveling to the West Coast, he said, would have meant the team would need to leave Wednesday. Regardless, he said, the all three of his potential competitors are “really” good.

“I don’t know what regional I’d prefer,” he said. “I’ve been asked that a few times. But logistically, with travel, it’s nice. We can go up Thursday now. That’s what I’d like to do. You know, we practice Thursday at their field … So it’s another night the kids get to sleep in their own bed. We get a full practice here on Wednesday.

“Right now we need to make a few minor adjustments offensively. So there’s some things that will help, being this close to the ballpark.”