5 men’s NCAA baseball tournament players to watch
The Mongomery Advertiser’s Adam Cole and The Tennesseean’s Aria Gerson break down the top players to watch in the men’s NCAA baseball tournament.
Texas baseball knew it would play at some point on June 1 – though the Longhorns are playing earlier than they may have anticipated.
The Longhorns, the No. 2 national seed in the 2025 NCAA baseball tournament, find themselves in the Austin Regional’s elimination game against Kansas State after falling 9-7 to UTSA on May 31. Jim Schlossnagle and Co. need to win two games – first against the Wildcats, then in a rematch vs. the Roadrunners – just to force a rubber match vs. UTSA on June 2.
Of course, Texas must first beat Kansas State, which began its run in the Austin Regional with a loss to UTSA before staving off elimination with a win over Houston Christian. Whoever wins the matchup between the Longhorns and Wildcats will advance to take on the Roadrunners in the Austin Regional championship.
USA TODAY is providing live updates, scores and highlights from Texas and Kansas State’s elimination game. Follow along here:
Watch Texas vs Kansas State with ESPN+
This section will be updated
| TEAMS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F |
| Texas | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — |
| K-State | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
This section will be updated.
Quevedo walks Chamberlain to start the inning but doesn’t have any more trouble, retiring the next three.
Kansas State moves to Michael Quevedo in the top of the seventh. He’ll face pinch-hitter Cole Chamberlain. Quevedo has a 6.28 ERA in 61 2/3 innings pitched this year. He has allowed 75 hits on the season but has also struck out 70.
There’s another 1-2-3 inning for Riojas, who has comfortably put Texas in position to advance past the elimination game. The Longhorns maintain a 14-3 lead heading into the seventh inning.
And now Gasparino forces another run across with a deep sac fly to left field that scores Flores. A double play ends the inning but the Longhorns add some insurance runs heading to the bottom of the frame.
Williams and Corba score two more runs on consecutive RBI singles against Arther. That’s an eight-RBI afternoon for Corba, who also has two home runs. The Longhorns have runners on the corners with no outs and leading 13-3.
Slack starts the sixth inning by hitting Rodriguez and walking Jalin Flores with four straight balls. Hughes is making another pitching change to the lefty Adam Arther. The 6-foot-4 sophomore has a 2.19 ERA in 24 2/3 innings this year.
Kansas State’s Sam Flores reaches after he was hit by Riojas in the second at-bat of the inning, but Texas gets each of the other three Wildcats batters out with little issue. That’s four straight scoreless innings for Kansas State after a three-run first.
Riojas has rebounded nicely after allowing a three-run home run to start the game. In four innings of work, has allowed three runs off just two hits, striking out three. He has retired the last 11 batters he has faced.
Following a Kansas State pitching change to JJ Slack, Kansas State walks Belyeu to load the bases. But the Wildcats get out of the jam after Schuessler reaches on a force-out at second base to end the inning. The Longhorns only get one run across in the inning.
Some aggressive base running by Gasparino with two outs nets Texas another run and extends the lead to 11-3. Mendoza reaches base on an infield chopper, with Gasparino making a run to home from second. Kansas State’s Dardar makes the throw home, but Bear Madliak drops the ball on the tag-out attempt.
Mendoza then beats the throw to second.
Credit that as an infield single for Williams, who lays a perfect bunt down the left field foul line to reach easily reach base. Next up is Borba, who is 2 for 2 in at-bats with two home runs.
There’s another 1-2-3 inning for Kansas State in the 4-5-6 spots in the lineup. We’re onto the fifth.
Schuessler manages to single in the 2-spot in the lineup, but Kansas State is otherwise unbothered in the top of the fourth as Belyeu grounds out to shortstop, Rodriguez strikes out looking and Flores flies out to shortstop.
It’s a 1-2-3 inning for Kansas State. O’Connor hits a fly ball to deep left field with two outs, but Adrian Rodriguez gets the easy out on the warning track. Onto the fourth inning we go.
Borba’s not messing around in the Austin Regional elimination game. He takes the first pitch from Guyette and smokes it over the left field wall to score three more runs and give Texas a 10-3 lead. That one traveled 423 feet with a 106 mph exit velocity.
Kansas State gets out of the after Will Gasparaino fouls out to third base and Galvan strikes out swinging.
Jalin Flores smokes an RBI single up the middle to score Schuessler from third. Texas now leads 7-3. Jonah WIlliams then reaches on an error after Sam Flores misses the field attempt. Texas has two runners on with one out.
Schuessler triples to start the inning with a ball that carries all the way to the warning track. Keegan O’Connor can’t track it down, and Schuessler is aggressive in running for third to get the first Longhorn on base this inning.
Another 1-2-3 inning, this time for Kansas State. Onto the third inning we go.
An inning after getting all nine batters up, Texas goes down in order to start the second. The Longhorns will hope for a similar defensive effort to maintain their three-run lead vs. K-State.
Texas and Kansas State have three combined home runs in the first inning, but it’s Texas who’s on top after one inning.
The ball is carrying today for both teams, as Dardar hits his own three-run home run over the left field wall to get the Wildcats on the board. K-State has one out and is looking to further close the distance vs. Texas.
Casey Borba has blown this one open for Texas after he launches a 362-foot opposite-field grand slam over the right field wall to give Texas a 6-0 lead.
Kansas State coach Pete Hughes has seen enough and makes a pitching change after Tanner Duke hits Jalin Flores to load the bases. Wildcats move to right-handed sophomore James Guyette, who has 48 strikeouts and a 4.37 ERA in 47 1/3 innings of work.
Rodriguez reaches on a fielder’s choice after he smokes one to Kansas State shortstop Shintaro Inoue. He makes a valiant effort at fielding the ball and getting the force-out to Seth Dardar, but the latter doesn’t touch second base as he catches the ball. Kansas State’s challenge that Kimble Schuessler is out at second fails, and the Longhorns now have two more on.
And just like that, Texas is on the board with a two-RBI home run from Max Belyeu in the 3-spot. His ball carries over the left center field wall and Texas now holds a 2-0 lead at the top of the inning.
And we’re off! Texas leadoff hitter Ethan Mendoza starts the game with a double into center field.
Texas vs. Kansas State is slated to air on ESPN, but will start before the end of the Kentucky-Clemson game in the Clemson Regional (still in the top of the seventh). Fans hoping to watch the game can stream the action on ESPN+ or head over to ESPNEws.
Texas will start right-handed junior Ruger Riojas on the mount vs. Kansas State. He has an 8-3 record, 5.25 ERA and 1.31 WHIP on top of 56 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings this season. Here is the lineup he will face against the Wildcats:
Here’s a look at the Longhorns’ batting order vs. Kansas State:
What time does Texas baseball vs Kansas State start?
- Date: Sunday, June 1
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
First pitch for Texas and Kansas State’s elimination game is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
What TV channel is Texas baseball vs Kansas State on today?
- TV channel: ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN app | ESPN+
The Longhorns-Wildcats game will air live on ESPN. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a valid cable login) and ESPN+, the latter of which serves as ESPN’s streaming service.
NCAA baseball tournament schedule
- Regionals: May 30-June 2
- Super regionals: June 6-9
- College World Series: June 13-22/23
- CWS finals: June 21-22/23
The 2025 NCAA baseball tournament began on May 30 with the regional round, which will conclude no later than June 2. Following the regional round are the super regionals, which will take place June 6-9. After that, the College World Series will begin on June 13 and end on either June 22 or 23, depending on whether the three-game championship series needs two or three games.
