Tag Archives: Austin Regional

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.

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 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