The College Baseball season has been fun to watch this year. We have seen teams dominate their conference, exciting walk-offs, towering home runs, and even the heartbreak of defeat. Still, it’s a brand new season as the day has come to see which one of our Texas teams will be selected to the NCAA Baseball Tournament with the hopes of making it to Omaha.
Texas A&M Aggies
It is no surprise that the #5 Texas A&M Aggies (37-18, 19-11) entered the NCAA Tournament hosting both the Regionals and Super Regionals for the first time in six years. The Aggies are coming off a season where they did not start the regular season ranked but finished the season as the SEC West Regular Season Champions.
Led by offensive powers Jack Moss, Dylan Rock, and Ryan Targac, the Aggies were able to dominate SEC opposing pitchers in more ways than one. With Moss leading all of the SEC with a .373 batting average, Rock ranked third in steals with 16, and Targac just hit bombs close to 500 feet in distance. Pitching was vital this season, led by Nathan Dettmer and Micah Dallas; the Aggies pitching staff kept them in many games this season.
All of the success this season goes to first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle. The Aggies came within one game of the SEC Championship before losing to the Florida Gators in the semi-final on Saturday. Along with the Aggies in the College Station Regional will be TCU, Louisiana, and Oral Roberts. The Aggies open up the regionals on Friday against Oral Roberts.
Texas Longhorns
The #16 Texas Longhorns (42-19, 14-10) began the season as the number one team in the country. The Longhorns got off to a hot start to begin the season, but after key losses to Texas State and Texas A&M, they fell in the rankings, leading them to be unranked for the first time all season.
With stellar pitching from ace Pete Hansen, the Longhorns continued to battle, which was good enough to get into the Big 12 Tournament. Led by Big 12 Player of the Year Ivan Melendez, the Longhorns were able to get back to the Big 12 title game but would fall to Oklahoma. The Longhorns enter the NCAA Tournament looking for a 38th trip back to Omaha in June. Joining the Longhorns in the Austin Regional will be Air Force, Dallas Baptist, and Louisana Tech.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
The #24 Texas Tech Red Raiders (37-20, 15-9) came into this season looking to get back to Omaha. Led by First Team All-American Jace Jung, the Red Raiders hung around the Top 10 in the ranking all season. After a big-time weekend series win against the Longhorns in March, the Red Raiders carried that momentum back into the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Red Raiders will not be hosting a regional, but the Red Raiders will come into the Statesboro Regional as the number two seed. Joining the Red Raiders will be Georgia Southern, UNC Greensboro, and Notre Dame.
Texas State Bobcats
The #13 Texas State Bobcats (45-12, 26-4) may be one of the Cinderella teams in this Tournament. The Bobcats won the most games in the program history this season. Like the Aggies, the Bobcats began the season unbanked, but after an impressive midweek win against the Longhorns in Austin, the Bobcats knew they had what it took to compete with the best and showed. The Bobcats won the Sun Belt West Regular Season Championship with ease. The Bobcats would make it to the Sun Belt semi-finals before losing to eventual champion, Louisiana Ragin Cajuns.
Texas State head coach Steven Trout will have the Bobcats ready to go as they come into the Stanford Regional as the number two seed. Joining the Bobcats will be Stanford (Host), Binghamton, and UC Santa Barbara.
TCU Horned Frogs
The #22 TCU Horned Frogs (36-20, 16-8) won the Big 12 Regular Season by one game over Oklahoma State. Led by first-year head coach Kirk Saarloos, the Horned Frogs did not miss a beat in 2022. Picking up where they left off a season ago, the Horned Frogs had big-time series wins over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, which brought them into the Top 25 rankings. Hoping to repeat as Big 12 Tournament Champions, the Horned Frogs would lose in back-to-back games against the Longhorns and Cowboys.
In this year’s NCAA Tournament, the Horned Frogs will stay close to home as they enter the College Station Regional as the number two seed. Along with the Horned Frogs, they will be joined by the Aggies (Host), Oral Roberts, and Louisiana.
Dallas Baptist Patriots
The Cinderella team from a season ago, the Dallas Baptist Patriots (34-22, 11-9), are back in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time since 2011, looking to go deeper than they did a season ago, to Omaha. The Patriots were so close in 2021, but Virginia battled back to end the Cinderella story and the season for the Patriots in 2021. The Missouri Valley Conference was put on notice after the Patriots breezed through the conference with ease to win the Championship in 2021. With an early exit this season, the Patriots entered the NCAA Tournament as the number three seed in the Austin Regional. The Longhorns (Host), Air Force, and Louisana Tech will be joining the Patriots.
Follow me on Twitter,@ripgrffin3, for more of my content. Be sure to check out our baseball podcast, The Texas Baseball Report. Find wherever you get your podcasts!
Main Image Credit
