AUSTIN – “Why Not Us?”
UTSA Baseball head coach Pat Hallmark posed that question when speaking to the media several weeks ago following the Roadrunners’ celebration of the 2025 American Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
A stellar performance from his UTSA team on Saturday gave the Roadrunners their second win over Texas at its UFCU Disch-Falk Field this season, this time propelling them into an NCAA Regional Final for the first time in program history.
At 46-13 on the year, UTSA is one of only four programs in the nation this season with 46 or more victories. The Roadrunners have accomplished countless milestones, won on the biggest stages and defeated multiple ranked teams.
A national television audience on Saturday evening was able to see what UTSA has known all along. It can compete and defeat any team in the country. The Roadrunners overcame a 6-1 deficit on Saturday to improve to 2-0 in the NCAA Austin Regional, doing so in front of 7,953 fans – the third-largest postseason crowd in Disch-Falk Field history.
“We feel comfortable in this environment because we know that we can win,” said first-year infielder Nate Hodge, a 2025 American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team member who went 2-for-4 with three RBI on Saturday. We know that we’re really good. I wouldn’t say it’s easy to come in here and do that. We just play for each other, we play the same way and we play it like it’s every other game.”
After a big third inning for the Longhorns, Texas led 6-1 after three frames. It was nothing new for the Roadrunners who have posted impressive comebacks in double-digit games this season.
“I like the way Texas came out,” said Hallmark, the 2025 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. “I just like competition. I admire competitive people and their kids came out with a chip on their shoulder. Our guys just kind of hung around, which is what we do, and put together a couple good innings there.”
With UTSA trailing by five runs, Hallmark reminded his mature team that it wasn’t necessary to make up the deficit immediately. The Roadrunners would play the long game, as they have all season.
“The message was we don’t need to score five runs,” Hallmark said. “We need to try to get on base and score one run. It’s been that way all year. They’re kind of used to hearing that. Any time we fall behind early, we talk about scoring one run, not five or whatever it is. They’re grown-ups. That’s one thing that makes this group good – maturity.”
It’s a quiet confidence felt throughout the entire team. The approach remains consistent and the emotions remain steady.
“We go into every game thinking we can win,” Hodge said. “Because we’ve already done it, we came back in this one knowing we could win this game. We’ve just got to play together and play for each other.”
While UTSA’s celebration was jubilant in the moments following the win, it didn’t take long for the Roadrunners to return to their business-like approach. As they’ve come to say: “job’s not done.”
“They were excited right when the game ended and I’m glad,” Hallmark said. “I don’t want to take that away from them at all. And then when we huddled up, I almost thought they were a little too serious. They get it. It was like, okay, they know. I said, ‘Enjoy it. We’ll talk later.’”
UTSA’s victory on Saturday gained significant national attention. But for the Roadrunners, they were quick to keep the moment in context. They didn’t come to Austin to win a game against Texas. They came to Austin to win the NCAA Regional.
“I just really want to win the Regional,” Hallmark said. “We have not done that. We’re going to prepare to do that. We need to win another game.”
UTSA will take the field at 6 p.m. Sunday, facing the winner of the elimination game between Kansas State and host Texas.