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Texas baseball names starting pitcher for elimination game vs. Kansas State
Published:
Texas baseball is facing elimination from the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The Longhorns will face off against Kansas State with Ruger Riojas taking the mound. Riojas is a natural choice to start this game, as he’s already made 9 starts this season and has pitched 61.2 innings on the year. He owns an 8-3 record on the season as well.
Here’s the official announcement:
Although Riojas has a solid record, his ERA of 5.25 does leave a bit to be desired. He was one of Texas’s best starting pitchers through the end of April, but has struggled mightily since the calendar flipped to May. In 3 May starts against Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma, Riojas surrendered 18 earned runs across just 7.1 innings.
Prior to those 3 starts, Riojas had not given up more than 3 earned runs in any single start this season. Given his recent struggles, Texas looked elsewhere for the first 2 games of this regional. The Longhorns threw a bullpen game against Houston Christian on Friday. Ace Luke Harrison go the start in a loss to UTSA on Saturday.
If Riojas is able to lead Texas to a win over the Wildcats on Sunday afternoon, the Longhorns would still need to defeat UTSA twice in order to advance to the Super Regionals.
First pitch for Texas baseball against Kansas State is set for 2 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
