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.
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