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No. 2 Texas Baseball set to host Kansas State, UTSA and HCU in Austin Regional

by:Evan Vieth•05/26/25
Ruger Riojas
Ruger Riojas Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One day after Texas Baseball was announced as a regional host in the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA has revealed who will be traveling to face Texas in the Austin Regional.

Texas secured the No. 2 overall seed this morning and will play host to Kansas State, UTSA, and Houston Christian for the regionals spanning from Friday, May 30, to Monday, June 2.

Former Big 12 rivals Kansas State finished sixth in the Big 12 with a 17–13 conference record. They are 37th in RPI but feature a lackluster 5–17 record in Q1 play.

UTSA and Texas have already faced each other this year, with the Roadrunners coming out on top in the 12-inning midweek matchup back in March. The Roadrunners comfortably won the American Athletic Conference in the regular season but fell to Tulane in the championship game. They are 23rd in RPI.

Lastly, HCU and the Longhorns have already played this season, with Texas scoring 12 runs in an early April midweek win. HCU ran the table in the Southland Conference Tournament after finishing the regular season in the middle of the standings. They are 94th in RPI.

It will be a reunion for a few different parties involved in this regional. Dee Kennedy, Kansas State’s starting second baseman, spent his freshman season in Austin last year before transferring after the departure of David Pierce. He’s had a strong year, leading the Wildcats in stolen bases and at-bats as a top-of-the-order spark plug. Additionally, Texas pitcher Ruger Riojas may have a chance to pitch against his former club, UTSA. Riojas spent his first two seasons in San Antonio before transferring to Austin this summer.

This is Texas’ first time hosting a regional since 2022, when the Longhorns took down Louisiana Tech and Air Force on the way to a College World Series appearance. This marks Texas’ 29th time hosting a regional in Austin and the 26th time UFCU Disch-Falk Field has been the host of an NCAA regional.

The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 42–11 record, winning the SEC outright by two games and solidifying themselves as one of the two to three best teams in the nation. Even with a quarterfinal loss to Tennessee in their first SEC Tournament game, the Longhorns put themselves in a fantastic position to not only host a regional but secure the vaunted national seed. Unfortunately for Texas, Vanderbilt’s late-season run and SEC Tournament win hoisted them above the Longhorns for that first seed, but a top-eight spot was really all the Longhorns needed.

Eight teams are given a national seed each year, giving each of those teams the ability to completely control their own postseason destiny. Given Texas’ spot as the No. 2 overall seed, the Longhorns would not only host a regional but also a Super Regional if they were to come out on top in the first stage of the postseason. Having a three-game home-field advantage for a series is an extremely large edge for teams gunning for Omaha. The winner of the Austin Regional will face the winner of the Los Angeles Regional, which features host UCLA, Arizona State, UC Irvine, and Fresno State.

Though the first game has yet to be announced, the Austin Regional will begin on Friday, May 30, and end on Monday, June 2, with the victor moving on to the Super Regionals. Texas has a tough group gunning for this regional win, but the Longhorns’ elite pitching staff and home crowd will look to blanket any chances of an upset here in Austin.

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