Here’s What Jim Schlossnagle Said About ABS Coming to College Baseball

The lines between the college and professional baseball game continue to blur season by season.

The Automated Ball-Strike challenge system will see its first action at the NCAA level in the upcoming Southeastern Conference Tournament later this month. The MLB recently introduced the system this season after testing it in the minor leagues since 2022.

“One of the beautiful things about the SEC is they're always on the forefront of change,” Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Trying things and trying to push the envelope to make the game better, whether it be the double base or the different clocks.”

How Will ABS Affect The Game Moving Forward

Texas Baseball, Brett Crossland — Texas freshman pitcher Brett Crossland tosses a pitch against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on May 2, 2026, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. | Noah McCord, The Reflector

Teams will be allotted three challenges per game, a change from the MLB’s two per game. If a team challenges a call and is successful, they will maintain that challenge. Conversely, if the original call is upheld, the team will lose that challenge for the remainder of the game.

As in MLB and the Minor Leagues, the player initiates the challenge by tapping the top of their head.

The pitch location will be measured within the electronic strike zone tailored to the player's size, which will be measured before their first game of the tournament. The subsequent result will be displayed on the video board and on the broadcast.

Additionally, if games go into extra innings, teams will be given one challenge that will not carry over into subsequent innings, i.e., teams cannot stack or collect challenges.

“We made this decision in the offseason, to give this a look, see what it's like, and we'll see how it goes,” Schlossnagle said. “I think the SEC tournament, obviously, it's incredibly highly viewed tournament, and there'll be a lot of eyes on it. It's not meant to show up any umpires or anything. It's meant to make the game better, and we'll see if it does.”

The ABS system uses 12 cameras, four to track pitch tracking and eight to measure player movement in the batter's box. During testing of the system in spring training in 2025, according to the MLB, challenges lasted only 13.8 seconds with an average of 4.1 per game.

The official announcement ironically came just one day after Mississippi State head coach Brian O’Connor was tossed in the sixth inning in Sunday's rubber match when he argued with the home plate umpire that Texas pitcher Brett Crossland's third strike against Ace Reese was outside the zone.

It’s intriguing to see how accurate college players will be using the system in the SEC Tournament. For the Texas Longhorns, Schlossnagle still has yet to break it down with his team and determine who will be allowed to challenge.

“It's still a couple of weeks away, so I haven't met with the team on that yet.” Schlossnagle said. “We'll formulate a plan as to what the guys can and can't do and how that's going to work, and kind of take it from there.”

Texas is currently tied for second place in the SEC at 15-8 with Texas A&M, but with the earlier season sweep, the Longhorns are slotted at third place and are projected to start in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

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