Janitorial crews equipped with dust pans and trash bags swept over the weathered, beaten stands of UFCU Disch-Falk Field, cleaning up the home of the Texas Longhorns one last time.
Also weathered and beaten, the exhausted Longhorn ballplayers rested down at the field level and in the dugout, sitting in shock even after the crowds had left.
There was no celebratory pile-up awaiting them in Omaha, there was no storybook ending for the Longhorns after their best season in over a decade — instead, it ended on a whimper in Austin.
Playing for almost eight consecutive hours in a grueling doubleheader to preserve its season, Texas’ valiant effort ultimately came up short, falling to the upstart UTSA Roadrunners for the second night in a row, ending their hopeful season in the Austin Regional.
“As I told (UTSA) Coach (Pat) Hallmark at home plate, it’s not a fly by night team … that’s an Omaha caliber club in every way,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Like I said the other night, they have a persona about them, and it’s a winning persona.”
It was apparent early on that the Longhorns’ season was coming to a close Sunday evening. Despite exploding for 16 hits and 15 runs in their game against Kansas State earlier in the afternoon, Texas could not replicate the same performance.
Facing a depleted Texas pitching rotation, a rested-up UTSA put the Longhorns out by the third inning.
In his second appearance in the tournament, redshirt sophomore pitcher Ethan Walker was the final domino to fall in Texas’ season, faltering on the mound and setting up a Roadrunners five-run blast. After a pair of hit-by-pitches, he was sent to the dugout, leaving junior pitcher Max Grubbs to clean up the mess.
It was too little, too late. A three-RBI double by redshirt junior infielder Ty Hodge, paired with a senior outfielder Mason Lytle’s RBI single, created a deficit too large to overcome.
“UTSA is really good. I watch right side, they’re good,” Schlossnagle said. “Just because you’re in the SEC or just because you’re in a Power Five League doesn’t mean there isn’t great baseball being played at other places; you have to go play well at the right time.”
Texas was handed its first loss of the regional after surrendering a 6-1 lead. The Longhorns earned the lead after an explosive third inning, marked by a two-RBI single by freshman Jonah Williams.
Grubbs and redshirt junior pitcher Luke Harrison, two of Texas’ best arms, struggled to keep the Roadrunners at bay, allowing seven runs to come in under their stewardship.
SEC Freshman of the Year, pitcher Dylan Volantis, came in the final three innings, putting up a respectable performance to buy some time for his batters, but the damage was done.
The Texas bats could not cash in at the plate, leaving 14 men stranded on the bases, leading to a narrow 9-7 loss to UTSA, sending them to the elimination bracket with a date with Kansas State.
“(I’m) just happy we get to play more baseball,” Williams said after the initial loss to UTSA. “We just got to tip our caps and move on to the next day. Sleep well and shower well, that’s it.”
Desperately needing the bats to come through, sophomore infielder Casey Borba took charge with four hits, a pair of home runs, and an eight-RBI performance. The hitting from the sophomore led the team to a 15-8 triumph against the Wildcats.
However, despite Borba’s impressive performance at the plate, it was junior pitcher Ruger Riojas who dominated on the hill, keeping the Longhorns from burning valuable arms as they primed for a do-over against UTSA in the Regional Championship game.
Riojas’ pieced together a career performance despite getting off on the wrong foot. Lasting 7.1 innings and striking out six Wildcats, his five scoreless innings gave Texas much-needed stability in the pitching department.
“I wanted to keep that ball for as long as I could,” Riojas said. “I think I did everything that needed to be done. Just throw as many strikes as you can, throw them early, and hold onto that ball.”
While the final game ended in heartbreak for Texas, Schlossnagle remained proud of the way his team fought through the adversity of adjusting to a new coaching staff.
Battling through countless hardships, the Longhorns compiled their best season since 2010. Running through the notoriously difficult Southeastern Conference in their first season, Texas notched series wins against some of the country’s best programs, claiming the SEC regular season title.
“We all understand Omaha’s where we all want to end up, but you go 44–14 in our league, it doesn’t make it a bad season, just not the right ending,” Schlossnagle said.
