Everything to Know About Texas Baseball’s First Regional Opponent: Holy Cross

NCAA baseball's postseason has officially arrived, and Texas Baseball is once again in good shape.

Texas earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and will host a regional for the 39th time in program history. By landing the envious top-eight national seed, Texas has positioned itself to host regional play and potentially a super regional if it advances.

That journey begins Friday with a matchup against Holy Cross at noon. Texas will also host No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara and No. 3 seed Tarleton State.

Here is everything to know about the fourth-seeded Crusaders.

What to Know About Holy Cross

Holy Cross baseball players — Holy Cross baseball coach Ed Kahovec stands for the National Anthem before facing Army. | Alan Arsenault/Special to the Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Holy Cross enters regional play as the Patriot League Tournament champion and one of the more unconventional teams in this year’s 64-team field.

On paper, it’s a matchup that heavily favors Texas.

Holy Cross is one of only three teams in the tournament with a losing record, entering postseason play at 25-28. Baseball America ranked Holy Cross No. 63 out of the 64 NCAA Tournament teams, and the Crusaders sit outside the top 200 nationally in both batting average and ERA.

Nevertheless, Holy Cross arrives in Austin playing some of its best baseball of the season after winning nine of its last 13 games and capturing the Patriot League’s automatic bid.

But with only one everyday hitter batting above .300 and no player with more than six home runs, the Crusaders do not pose much of an offensive threat. They do, however, possess an intriguing player who’s very capable of creating problems on the bases.

Senior outfielder CJ Egrie currently ranks second nationally in both total stolen bases (46) and stolen bases per game (.95). The Patriot League Player of the Year is currently 46 for 48 on the year and will almost certainly test Texas catcher Carson Tinney throughout Friday’s matchup.

Holy Cross’s pitching is similarly unconventional.

The Crusaders’ average fastball velocity sits at just 86.8 mph, far below what Texas routinely saw throughout SEC play. But despite the lack of overpowering stuff, Holy Cross still features a few arms capable of making things uncomfortable.

Senior right-hander Jaden Wywoda earned first-team All-Patriot League honors after posting a 3.50 ERA across nearly 80 innings while holding opponents to a .212 batting average. Meanwhile, Jake Lenahan has emerged as perhaps Holy Cross’ hottest arm entering the postseason. After transitioning from the bullpen into a starting role late in the year, Lenahan posted a 1.86 ERA over his last three starts with 22 strikeouts and only three walks.

Still, from a pure talent perspective, this is not a pitching staff built like the ones Texas faced weekly in the SEC, as Holy Cross currently ranks 200th nationally in ERA.

But Texas also knows better than most that regionals can become uncomfortable very quickly. The Longhorns learned that lesson the hard way last season against UTSA, and they will try to avoid another early postseason stumble when regional play begins Friday in Austin.

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