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    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Behind Ruger Riojas’ exceptional performance on the mound and Aiden Robbins’ heroic home run in the seventh inning of Sunday’s championship game of the Austin Regional, Texas eliminated UC Santa Barbara to advance in the NCAA Tournament with a 6-4 win at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
    After last year’s disappointing exit in the regional as one of eight national seeds, the Longhorns (the No. 6 overall national seed) righted the ship this season. With a 19-1 rout of Holy Cross on Friday and a 16-2 dismantling of Tarleton State in the winner’s bracket game on Saturday preceding the late-inning comeback victory over the Gauchos, Texas (43-13) will host the winner of the Eugene Regional (either Oregon and Oregon State) in next week’s Austin Super Regional.
    The Longhorns didn’t score until the sixth inning, but Jim Schlossnagle’s club stayed in the game because of the job Riojas did in his first extensive action in three weeks. Riojas, who battled shoulder tendonitis late in the regular season, scattered three hits and one walk while striking out six in five innings of one-run baseball.
    UC Santa Barbara (40-20) built a 3-2 lead through six innings thanks to a first-inning home run and two Texas errors in the bottom of the sixth. With Casey Borba on first and one out in the top of the seventh, Robbins took the fifth pitch he saw from lefty Van Froling deep to right field for a two-run, opposite-field home run.
    The Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player, Robbins, who hit his team-leading 23rd home run of the season, gave the Longhorns a lead they never relinquished. Still, the Gauchos made them work for the last nine outs.
    A pair of eighth-inning insurance runs (Adrian Rodriguez scored from second on an RBI double down the left-field line by Ethan Mendoza, who scored from third with two outs on a failed pickoff attempt) came in handy after UCSB scored a run against Sam Cozart in the home half.
    Cozart recorded the first two outs of the ninth inning, but he exited with the bases loaded after hitting a better. Luke Harrison, who started Friday's win over Holy Cross, came out of the bullpen to notch a two-pitch save (the third of his career and his first since March 5, 2022, against LSU), helping Texas earn a Super Regional berth for the first time since 2023.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Texas drew first blood in the first inning of Saturday’s 16-2 win over Tarleton State in the winner’s bracket game of the Austin Regional, connected on three consecutive haymakers in the second inning and cruised to victory behind a mix of patience and power at the plate and a dominant effort on the mound by Dylan Volantis.
    “Great ball game for us,” said Jim Schlossnagle, who watched his club draw a season-high 17 walks and play top-notch, error-free defense behind Volantis. “I felt like Dylan did a great job of trying as best he could to stay in rhythm, given the long sits he had between innings.”
    In the winner’s bracket, hosting a team that handed it a midweek loss during the regular season for the second year in a row, Texas (42-13) fed off the energy of an amped-up crowd. With 8,276 fans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field behind them, the Longhorns controlled their second meeting with the Texans from the jump.
    “I thought our crowd was great,” Schlossnagle said. “They were into it in the very first inning. Even though we only got one run out of that inning, I thought the crowd had a big impact on the game.”
    Carson Tinney’s fiery response ignited a crowd that was ready to explode when he was plunked in the back of the head on the first pitch he saw from 6-foot-9-inch, 240-pound lefty Ethan Wendel set the tone for Texas avenging a 6-1 home loss to Tarleton State (38-20) on March 17 with authority.
    “I feel like I do a good job of wearing pitches behind the plate, and I feel like when you're in the box, it's really indifferent,” said Tinney, who went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a double and two runs scored on a night when he drew three of the team’s season-high 17 walks. “I have no problem wearing pitches in the box. I was happy to get the boys fired up.”
    Temo Becerra’s RBI single through the right side of the infield in the top of the first kickstarted the Longhorns’ second offensive onslaught in as many days. With five home runs in Saturday’s win, including back-to-back-to-back second-inning jacks by Aiden Robbins (2-for-4, three runs scored and four RBI), Tinney and Anthony Pack Jr., Texas has slugged its way to within one win of the program’s first Super Regional appearance since 2023 with 11 home runs in two NCAA Tournament games.
    Robbins, Tinney and Pack became the first three Longhorns to go deep in consecutive at-bats since Silas Ardoin, Skyler Messinger and Dylan Campbell did it on May 1, 2022, against Oklahoma State.
    “I watched Aiden hit his and I was like, 'Man, that'd be cool if I could do it, too,’” Tinney said. “I ran into my ball and I remember, when I stepped on home plate, Pack greeted me at home, and I looked at him, and I was like, 'It's your turn now.'
    “That was pretty cool to be part of such a cool experience.”
    The three home runs highlighted a five-run second inning, an avalanche that ended Wendel’s night after 54 pitches (five hits, six runs and three walks allowed, with one hit batter and four strikeouts in two innings), buried the Texans and put Texas in the driver’s seat in the regional. Tarleton State will face UC Santa Barbara in an elimination game at noon on Sunday, with the Longhorns drawing the winner in the regional championship game at 5 p.m. If necessary, there will be a winner-take-all final on Monday.
    Texas has scored 35 runs through the first two games of this year’s NCAA Tournament, which now stands as the highest-scoring two-game postseason stretch in program history. It's a spree in which the Longhorns scored at least one run in the first 13 innings of the regional.
    Toeing the rubber in the second with a 6-0 lead, Volantis settled in and befuddled the Tarleton State bats through 6.1 strong innings. Volantis struck out seven Texans, allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run with one hit batter in a dominant 91-pitch effort.
    Extending Volantis allows Texas to go into Sunday with Ruger Riojas ready for his first significant action since a four-inning, 74-pitch outing in a road win over Tennessee on May 10 and a fully-rested bullpen backing him up (Brett Crossland, Sam Cozart and Haiden Leffew have yet to pitch in the regional). Schlossnagle and Max Weiner left Volantis in the game to eat innings and make sure the Longhorns’ sizable lead, which stood at 12-0 when Volantis took the mound for the fourth inning, remained intact.
    “I wanted Dylan to at least get us through the sixth,” Schlossnagle said. “When he went out for the seventh, frankly, I just wanted him to have a chance to tip his cap. I wanted him to feel the appreciation of the fans. I'm glad we were able to do that.”
    After losing the winner’s bracket game of last year’s regional to UTSA, getting behind the eight ball and failing to recover, Schlossnagle left nothing to chance. Now, Texas is well-positioned to finish the job in front of the home crowd on Sunday.
    “It's always good to stay in the winner's bracket and avoid those moments, but we haven't won anything yet,” Schlossnagle said. “We won a game. We've got a new day tomorrow.
    “Yes, I'm glad we don't have to play two tomorrow, but the tournament is not over.”
    Jeff Howe
    I love football.
    I love talking about football.
    I love writing about football.
    I love talking and writing about Texas Longhorn football.
    Forgive me then for not champing at the bit to dissect a war of words between Texas and Texas Tech that’s devolved into an obnoxious publicity stunt. Hopefully, we’re nearing the end of this tiresome situation and can get back to actual football matters in the near future.
    Consider this my part in helping put it to bed.
    Joey McGuire, Cody Campbell, Kirby Hocutt and anyone else on the Red Raiders’ side of the fence who believes they have a dog in the fight have taken umbrage with Steve Sarkisian singling out Texas Tech’s less-than-stellar 2026 schedule. The offended parties appear to be hellbent on milking every possible ounce out of their time atop college football’s offseason news cycle.
    The public challenge McGuire and Campbell have issued to Texas — to ditch the season opener at home against Texas State and play the Red Raiders, either in Lubbock or at AT&T Stadium in Arlington — achieved its intended purpose by riling up the Texas Tech faithful and giving casual college football fans perceived ammunition to question the Longhorns’ fortitude.
    The same is true of Hocutt’s comments to The Athletic, even though Texas somehow managed to match the Red Raiders' scoring output in last season’s College Football Playoff without participating.
    The idle threats have also buried a few key points (including Brenden Sorsby’s ongoing pursuit of eligibility getting moved to the national media’s back burner, for the moment) in the back-and-forth since Sarkisian’s comments in Houston last Thursday.
    — Sarkisian didn’t insult Texas Tech, its head coach or its football program. He called out the Red Raiders’ schedule, which nobody has stepped up to defend.
    Of the seven Power Four schools in Texas, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football believes Texas Tech has the easiest schedule this coming season.
    Parker Fleming’s analysis has the Red Raiders with the easiest path to the CFP of any Power Four team in the country.
    College Football News ranked Texas Tech’s schedule 65th out of 138 FBS programs. Only three Power Four schedules were considered easier than the Red Raiders' 12-game slate.
    According to Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, the two FBS opponents on Texas Tech’s schedule (Abilene Christian is an FCS program) rank No. 91 (Oregon State) and No. 136 (Sam Houston), respectively.
    I’ve yet to hear anyone say Sarkisian was wrong about the Red Raiders’ schedule, which has proved his point.
    If the CFP selection committee doesn’t use strength of schedule as a primary separator when push comes to shove, then what’s the point of risking a non-conference loss?
    — Whether viewed through the prism of subjective opinions or objective metrics, Texas Tech is taking the path of least resistance with its non-conference schedule in hopes of reaching the CFP. Instead of owning it (if the system prioritizes winning a conference championship, no matter how it’s acquired, then admit that's what you're doing and roll with it), the folks in Lubbock threw a fit, went on the attack and tried to gain sympathy in the court of public opinion.
    Texas isn’t going to play Texas Tech in the regular season. Social media trolls can cry for the Longhorns to “SPOT THE BALL!” all they want. It won’t matter.
    McGuire knows it, Campbell knows it, Hocutt knows it and in their heart of hearts, Red Raider fans who possess a modicum of common sense know it’s nothing more than a glorified pro wrestling promo. The goal was for Texas Tech to paint Texas as the villain, an SEC behemoth too scared to play the upstart in-state program that’s beating the Longhorns on the recruiting trail and making a move toward the top of the state’s FBS pecking order.
    This was never about getting Texas to agree to a game. It was to make the Longhorns look petty, keep the hype train going after a watershed season in their program’s history, draw attention away from the Sorsby situation and hope to get a few college football talking heads and personalities with large social media followings on their side.
    Those things won’t impact anything the Longhorns do on the field in 2026 and beyond. Regardless, the Red Raiders accomplished their goal
    — Sometimes, situations like this aren’t that deep. I think this one is for Sarkisian.
    A 37-34 overtime loss to Texas Tech in 2022 was enough of a burden to bear for Sarkisian and the Longhorns. McGuire’s speech to his team in the victorious locker room poured salt in the wound.
    Specifically, one portion of McGuire’s sermon was so sharp that it might've gotten embedded under Sarkisian’s skin.
    “I told you they were going to break and they did,” McGuire told his squad. “The reporter asked me at the end, she said: ‘What does it mean to win this game and beat Texas?' I said, ‘It doesn’t mean anything to beat Texas. We’re 1-and-0 in the Big 12.' That’s what it means.”
    Just like Sarkisian’s campaign rally-style pep talk to a hotel ballroom full of alumni, donors and fans in Houston, McGuire’s words were crafted with a specific audience in mind. In both instances, once the comments went public, the offended party processed what was said and prepared to respond as they saw fit.
    Leading up to the 2023 season, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark didn’t mince words about backing the Red Raiders when they made their way to DKR for Texas’ last regular-season game as a member of the conference. In the face of the remaining Big 12 members and the league office making things as publicly uncomfortable as possible for the Longhorns and Oklahoma before their respective departures for the SEC, Sarkisian saved his retort to Yormark, McGuire and anyone else who might find themselves caught in the blast radius for Nov. 24, 2023.
    Sarkisian didn’t have to say anything. The 57-7 bludgeoning of Texas Tech that sent Texas to the Big 12 title game spoke volumes.
    Essentially, McGuire called Sarkisian’s team soft while downplaying the relevance of the Red Raiders’ 18th win in 73 meetings with the Longhorns (Texas leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 55-18). If Texas Tech is top of mind for Sarkisian, it would be hard to blame him for the genesis of his ire stemming from what got back to him after a close loss.
    Sarkisian and the Longhorns got the last word when it mattered. No matter how bad the Red Raiders want to settle the score, barring a postseason meeting, the status quo won’t change for the foreseeable future.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — No moment has been too big for Anthony Pack Jr. throughout his exceptional freshman season on the Forty Acres. The opening game of the NCAA Tournament’s Austin Regional on Friday was no different for Pack, who hit three home runs in a 19-1 rout of Holy Cross at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
    “I just went out there like every other game,” said Pack, who roughed up the Crusaders’ pitching staff to the tune of a 3-for-3 day, with four runs scored and five RBI. “I don't think anything changed. A lot of preparation, a lot of hitting with Tulo (assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki), but I think it just came from the preparation.”
    No Longhorn had ever recorded a three-home run game in the NCAA Tournament until Pack hit his eighth, ninth and 10th dingers of the season. Pack, who now has 70 hits and 50 RBI in 53 games, helped Texas (41-13) score in every inning of its dismantling of Holy Cross (25-29).
    Aiden Robbins, who slugged his 20th and 21st home runs of the season en route to the Longhorns matching their largest margin of victory ever in a postseason game, knows that what Pack is doing far exceeds what’s expected from a freshman. 
    “He's confident and he knows his ability to just go out there and play free,” Robbins said of Pack, the SEC Freshman of the Year, who led the league in hitting (.400) and on-base percentage (.511) during conference play. “He displays that every time he steps on the field.”
    Pack’s three bombs tied a single-game school record (the last time it happened was in 2024, when Max Belyeu went deep three times against Baylor) and accounted for half of the Longhorns’ six home runs. Jayden Duplantier’s sixth-inning grand slam capped the slugfest, tying the program record for most home runs in a game.
    The 19 runs the Longhorns scored were the most a Texas team has tallied in an NCAA Tournament game since 2005. Pack got the scoring started in the first inning, with a 417-foot, two-out solo blast.
    After Robbins (2-for-5, three runs scored and three RBI) and Carson Tinney (3-for-4, four runs scored) were retired by Jaden Wywoda, Pack pulled a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall, executing a critical at-bat that set the tone for the team’s historic day at the plate.
    “We have a lot of respect for their starting pitcher,” Jim Schlossnagle said of Wywoda, who threw 105 pitches in 4.2 innings after throwing 196 pitches over three days in last week’s Patriot League Tournament. “If he gets out of that inning clean, a senior pitcher like that can really get some confidence and get going. Anthony, obviously, had a good swing in that inning and a really good day.
    “After that, a lot of good things went our way.”
    Texas now gets to reap the benefits of hosting a regional as a top-8 national seed. While Tarleton State and UC Santa Barbara are duking it out in the nightcap at Disch-Falk Field, the Longhorns will be off their feet, trying to maximize the full 24 hours they've been allotted between Friday’s romp and Saturday’s winner’s bracket game at 6 p.m.
    “It's not an advantage unless the players take advantage of it,” Schlossnagle said. “That's what we just had a quick conversation about, so these guys need to get out of here and get off their feet and hydrate — like, really hydrate.”
    Schlossnagle’s postgame comment to “really hydrate” was said directly to Pack, who was lifted for Duplantier in the sixth inning.
    Pack said his muscles get tight when he gets excited, which can lead to cramps. Although Pack said he must do a better job of “controlling my energy a little bit,” the first SEC freshman to hit .400 since Jake Mangum hit .408 for Mississippi State in 2016 wants to do what he can to make sure nothing interrupts his historic campaign.
    “I can't cramp,” Pack said. “I've got to do better with my hydration and do better.”
    Adequately hydrated or not, Pack set the tone for what Texas hopes is a deep, prosperous postseason.
    Bobby Burton
    It's sad that it has come to this. But it has.
    Texas Tech is doing anything to be relevant. They're desperate, so desperate in fact that it's embarrassing to watch grown men grovel.
    Cody Campbell and Joey McGuire are the faces of desperation.
    So butthurt are the Red Raiders about getting left in the Big 12 that their administration at every level, from the board of regents, to the president's office, even to the football coach's office, they're all willing to do anything to get anyone to listen to them and regard them as more relevant than they are.
    In a flash of showmanship and false bravado, their football coach today asked for Texas to move its game with Texas State from Austin on Sept. 5, and schedule Texas Tech in Dallas instead.
    Yet just minutes later, that very same coach tried to convince reporters that his quarterback who gambled on his own team should not incur significant penalties. "Maybe he should get a few games but not a whole year [I am paraphrasing here]," McGuire told reporters.
    A sane man's response to such words? Joey McGuire will say anything to anybody if it helps him win a football game. He's a man who knows no bounds.
    McGuire is only following the lead of his president at Texas Tech, who days earlier penned a letter to all students and alumni asking for the same thing.
    The whole thing is preposterous.
    They know it. You know it. We all know it.
    If you gamble on your team, you're toast.
    As for Campbell, his thumbprints are all over the latest senate legislation. And that legislation attempts to box in Texas and the SEC. Why is Campbell so worried about what's going on in Austin? Does he feel threatened?
    Again, it's the move of desperate people. And McGuire and Campbell are the faces of desperation.
    Texas Tech is embarrassing itself over and over again.
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