The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 6 Baseball preview: NCAA Austin Regional
05.28.2026 | Baseball
Longhorns open postseason run against Holy Cross on Friday
#6 Texas | UC Santa Barbara | Tarleton State | Holy Cross
May 29, 2026 - June 1, 2026
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Time: Friday at 12 p.m.
Stream/TV: SEC Network
Radio: The Zone AM-1300
Live stats: texas.statbroadcast.com
THE AUSTIN REGIONAL — Coming off its second consecutive 40-win regular season, the Texas Longhorns were awarded the No. 6 national seed for the NCAA postseason. Texas will welcome No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara, No. 3 seed Tarleton State and No. 4 seed Holy Cross. The Longhorns are hosting for the 39th time in program history and making their 65th postseason appearance overall. Texas is 153-60-1 (.721) all-time in regional games, including a 110-33-1 (.783) ledger in Austin. The Austin Regional is paired with the Eugene Regional, hosted by 11th-overall seed Oregon.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT OMAHA — The winningest NCAA Division I college baseball program of all-time has become very familiar with the restaurants in Omaha. Texas holds the record for most College World Series appearances (38), most individual CWS games won (88), most overall NCAA Tournament games won (265) and most NCAA Tournament appearances (65). The Longhorns have won six national championships, trailing only USC (12) and LSU (8).
FIELD TRIP — While Texas headlines the Austin Regional, UC Santa Barbara, Tarleton State and Holy Cross round out one of the toughest fields in the 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. UC Santa Barbara enters the postseason as an at-large team, having won the Big West regular season championship with a 22-8 conference record. The Gauchos are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in their program's history. UC Santa Barbara reached the College World Series in 2016. Meanwhile, Tarleton State is making its first-ever appearance at the Division I level in just its second year of eligibility after transitioning from Division II. The Texans claimed the WAC regular season and tournament titles. After winning the Patriot League for the second straight season, Holy Cross earned its 13th bid in the NCAA Tournament. This marks the Crusaders' first back-to-back appearances since 1962 and 1963. Holy Cross is the lone Northeast program to ever win a national championship, taking home the crown in 1952.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS — As of May 28, the Longhorns sport the No. 5 RPI, No. 6 DSR and No. 9 SOS in the country. Heading into the SEC Tournament, Texas was listed as a consensus top-5 team in all five major polls. Amongst teams with at least 20 games played against Quad 1 opponents, the Longhorns boast the third-best winning percentage (.609), trailing only Georgia Tech (.815) and Georgia (.682). Overall, Texas has the seventh-highest winning percentage (.755) and run differential (+3.5) in all of Division I Baseball. On the mound, Texas ranks third in FIP (3.33), sixth in WHIP (1.22) and 17th in ERA (4.22). At the plate, the Longhorns' .919 OPS is 21st nationally. Meanwhile, Texas has registered a .980 fielding percentage, which sits 18th in the country.
IT JUST MEANS MORE — In Texas' two seasons in the SEC, the Longhorns are one of only two programs with at least 40 wins in league play, alongside Georgia. Texas' 41-18 (.695) SEC mark is the best conference winning percentage over that span, edging Georgia's 41-19 (.693) ledger. Since Jim Schlossnagle's first campaign in the SEC in 2022, he has won more conference series than any other coach in the league. Over that five-year run, Schlossnagle's 37 SEC series wins stack up ahead of Dan Van Horn (33), Kevin O'Sullivan (30), Jay Johnson (27) and Tony Vitello (27). With Schlossnagle at the helm last year, the Longhorns became the first team to win the SEC in their first season since the league's inaugural campaign in 1933. Texas' 22-8 ledger in SEC action marked its best record in conference play since 2010.
NOTEWORTHY NON-CON — Over the regular season, Texas finished 21-2 against non-conference opponents. Texas began the season 16-0, marking its best start to a campaign in 21 years. For the second straight year, the Longhorns went 9-2 in midweek games. Since 2020, Jim Schlossnagle's clubs have notched a 61-12 (.836) ledger in midweek games, winning 33 of the last 38 contests.
HISTORY BY WAY OF THE K — For the fourth time in program history, Texas' pitching staff has amassed 600 strikeouts. The Longhorns are 18 punchouts shy of breaking a 41-year-old school-record set in 1985 (618). Ruger Riojas and Dylan Volantis became the first Texas duo with 100 strikeouts in a single season since Cole Green (104) and Taylor Jungmann (126) in 2011. Volantis' 109 strikeouts sit third in the SEC and are tied for the 19th-most in the country. Meanwhile, Riojas leads the conference with a 13.85 K/9 and is tied for ninth in punchouts (100). Overall, the Longhorns have the SEC's top three pitchers in strikeout percentage (min. 35 inn.), with Sam Cozart (39.2), Riojas (37.3) and Volantis (35.2) comprising the three-headed monster. Texas has mounted 19 punchouts in a game on two occasions, accomplishing the feat against Alabama on April 18 and Mississippi State on May 1. The Longhorns' 19 strikeouts matched the most in a nine-inning game in program history, tying their performance against Southwestern Louisiana on March 18, 1988.
BASH BROS — With Troy Tulowitzki on staff, the Longhorns have recorded the five highest home run totals in school history. In 2022, Texas smashed the program-record with 128 homers, surpassing the 2010 squad that hit 81 blasts. Since, the Longhorns tallied 91 home runs in 2023, 112 jacks in 2024 and 85 round-trippers in 2025. This year, Texas has launched 87 home runs. The Longhorns have three different players with at least 17 blasts for the first time in program history. Team-leader Carson Tinney has 20 jacks, which matches Jeff Ontiveros (2002) for the fourth-most in a single season. Outfielder Aiden Robbins has homered 19 times, tying for the sixth-most in a campaign. Infielder Casey Borba has socked 17 blasts to cap off the Longhorns' historic power trio.
SPEED KILLS — For the first time since 2005, Texas has eclipsed the century mark in stolen bases. Among all SEC teams, the Longhorns rank third (102), trailing only Kentucky (123) and Oklahoma (114). Six Texas players have swiped double-digit bags for the first time in program history. Eight different Longhorns have also set new career-highs. Anthony Pack Jr.'s team-leading 20 stolen bases are the most by a Texas freshman since Drew Stubbs (28) in 2004.
OWN THE DISCH — Since UFCU Disch-Falk Field opened in 1975, Texas has gone 1,690-431-3 (.796) at home thanks in large part to Longhorn Nation. Texas has averaged 7,243 fans per game at home, the fifth-highest mark in the country. On March 28, the Longhorns drew the second-largest regular season crowd in program history, with 0f 8,059 fans in attendance against then-No. 8 Oklahoma. Across the three-game series against the Sooners, the Longhorns welcomed 23,407 fans to UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the third-highest recorded mark for a three-game set in the ballpark's history.
