Texas Starting Pitcher and Lineup for Regional Game Against Holy Cross

The Texas Longhorns open up the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed and the host of the Austin Regional for the 39th time in program history.

In a field consisting of UC Santa Brabra, Tarleton State and Holy Cross, the Longhorns have one of the easier regionals this season and look to break their four-year Omaha drought in 2026.

As the No. 1 seed in the regional, Texas will face No. 4 Holy Cross first on Friday at 12 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.

How To Watch

Who: Texas Longhorns vs. Holy Cross Crusaders
What: First game of the Austin Regional
When: Friday, May 29 at 12 p.m.
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field (Austin, Texas)
TV/Streaming: SEC Network
Radio: The Zone AM-1300/103.1 FM

Texas Starting Pitcher

Texas Longhorns pitcher Luke Harrison stares into the box before throwing a pitch. | University of Texas Athletics

As one of the only current Longhorns to have memories of reaching Omaha, veteran starting pitcher Luke Harrison will make the first start for Texas in this year's regional against Holy Cross. Unlike other teams in the postseason field, the Longhorns are holding off on using their ace in the first game.

For the past two seasons, Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle has had a lot of trust in Harrison, and deservedly so. The longtime pitcher has an impressive 23-6 record since becoming a full-time starter in 2025 for the Longhorns.

“When you wear this jersey, when you play for Texas, you embrace the expectations that come with it,” Harrison said. “Making a regional isn't considered a win for a season here, and everybody here knows that. It just starts with going on playing our game one pitch at a time.”

Harrison got some work in the Southeastern Conference tournament as a bullpen arm for load management purposes. He lasted two innings against the Arkansas Razorbacks, tossing for two strikeouts and allowing two hits.

“We know we're getting a good guy on the mound, strong lefty,” Holy Cross outfielder CJ Egrie said. “Obviously, hot fastball, react to the off speed; it's definitely going to be different in [velocity] for sure.”

Probable Starting Lineup For Texas

1 - RF Aiden Robbins

2 - C Carson Tinney

3 - LF Anthony Pack Jr.

4 - 2B Temo Beccera

5 - 3B Casey Borba

6 - SS Adrian Rodriguez

7 - DH Ethan Mendoza

8 - 1B Ashton Larson

9 - CF Dairyn Pendergrass

After injuring his shoulder against Tennessee in their final road series of the season, Ethan Mendoza will still be out defensively for the Longhorns.

“He’s not playing the field this weekend,” Schlossnagle said. “We’ll have to be probably playing for a while [for Mendoza] to play the field.”

The Texas infield has gotten good work for the final two regular series and the SEC Tournament to gel together and limit mistakes.

Keys To The Game

Austin Regional — Holy Cross Pitcher Jaden Wywoda taking questions in the press conference room at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas, on May 28, 2026. | Nicholas Kingman, Longhorns on SI

The Longhorns cannot underestimate the Crusaders' talent, which is making its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since the 1960s.

The Texas bats must find early success against Holy Cross ace Jaden Wywoda, who has pitched multiple complete games this season. The production must be established at the top of the order, which found little success in their lone SEC Tournament game.

While Harrison has an impressive record, he has repeatedly found himself in jams this season, an area Holy Cross will undoubtedly try to expose. As a veteran pitcher, he must eat up as many innings as he can so the Longhorns can preserve their premier bullpen for later in the regional.

“We're definitely ready to go. We definitely didn't take your foot off the gas we stayed on it and made sure we got our work and our preparation in,” Tinney said. “As soon as we landed from Hoover, we got in practice the next day — we were doing live at-bats against our arms.”

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