The Longhorns baseball team has officially found out their postseason draw. A 40-13 regular season earned Texas a top eight seed, checking in a No. 6. That means they’ll be hosting three teams in Austin this weekend: UC Santa Barbara, Tarleton State and Holy Cross. According to the all-important RPI metric, it’s one of the easier draws Texas could’ve asked for.
Texas currently sits at 5 in the RPI rankings. Their opponent Friday, Holy Cross, checks in at 201, the 4th lowest in the tournament. UC Santa Barbara checks in at 38, while Tarleton State sits at 56. Both of those sit on the lower side of the 2 and 3 seeds in regionals around the country. That places their average RPI at 75, placing them 14th out of 16 regionals.
Now, it should be said the RPIs being lower doesn’t guarantee a thing. UC Santa Barbara enters with one of, if not the best pitcher in the country in Jackson Flora. Tarleton State walked into Austin earlier this season and handed Texas a 6-1 loss. Holy Cross is on a special postseason run after finishing just .500 in conference play. All of these teams present challenges and nothing is a given because of the favorable RPI ratings.
This weekend is a massive one for Jim Schlossnagle and company. Last season ended in an Austin regional at the hands of a dangerous mid-major. There are two in Austin this weekend, hoping to knock off the Longhorns. RPI is incredibly favorable for Texas but they’ll have to confirm those rankings this weekend.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas baseball gets favorable path to CWS through Austin regional
Reporting by Tommy Bresee, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
