AUSTIN – There has never been a doubt that UTSA Baseball’s journey to the NCAA Austin Regional is anything but a business trip.
While the Roadrunners (45-13) are making their first NCAA Regional appearance in 12 years thanks to the best season in program history that has resulted UTSA winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship and setting countless records, there is no satisfaction in simply making it this far. To be clear, the goal is to win the Regional.
UTSA made an important first step towards that goal on Friday night, defeating Kansas State 10-2 at Disch-Falk Field to earn the first NCAA postseason victory in program history. That sets up a much-anticipated winner’s bracket matchup between the Roadrunners and the host Texas Longhorns on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.
“I’m trying to get three wins,” said Pat Hallmark, UTSA’s sixth-year head coach and the 2025 American Athletic Conference Coach of the year. “That’s what I told the guys when the game ended. I said, ‘Be happy and enjoy the moment, but we’re here to get three wins, we’re not here to get one win.’ There’s more to do. We’ve got to get ready for Texas.”
The win came in front of an announced crowd of 7,025 fans, the majority of whom were there supporting the Roadrunners.
“The support we had today from the fans, it felt like a home game,” said senior right fielder James Taussig, a 2025 AAC First-Team All-Conference selection. “That was an awesome atmosphere. You saw the guys were ready to play. They came out firing. Energy was high for all nine innings. We’re super excited to go into tomorrow.”
The success that UTSA has experienced this season isn’t an anomaly, but rather the result of hard work and consistency during Hallmark’s tenure. The Roadrunners have won 30 or more games in four consecutive seasons and have put the program on an impressive trajectory that has led them to this moment. It’s Hallmark’s vision coming to fruition.
“I did envision being here,” Hallmark said. “Not necessarily at Disch-Falk, but certainly in a regional. And I did envision having a lot of support. It’s been wonderful. They really turned out. I’m happy for it. I hope they enjoyed it.”
UTSA’s 2025 roster features a wealth of talent, but it’s the team’s maturity and accountability that Hallmark most credits for the team’s ability to stay locked in and focused on the moment.
“Accountability is something we talk about from the first day of practice in the fall,” Hallmark said. “When things don’t go right, accountability is huge. This group was pretty easy to get the accountability because of their maturity. That’s a very hard thing to get sometimes from 40 guys – for all of them to be accountable, but these guys are. That’s why we’re good.”
The most successful teams in sports are often those that are player-led and that’s exactly what UTSA Baseball has become. The players hold themselves to their own standard without needing to be pushed by their coaches.
“Now the accountability revolves around them,” Hallmark said. “I feel like I’ve coached less the second half of the season. I do less and we win more. With this group, often I just need to be quiet and they take care of the accountability amongst each other, which is great.”
The next opportunity for the Roadrunners comes tonight against No. 2 national seed Texas, a team that UTSA beat 8-7 in 12 innings on March 18 in Austin. And they’ll approach it just like they have all of the other games this season. They’ll be ready to go to work.
“These kids are unreasonably mature,” Hallmark said. “They really enjoy just being with each other and that’s what you see out there.”