UTSA humiliates Kansas State in Austin Regional beatdown

Kansas State’s return to the NCAA Tournament didn’t go as planned.

The Wildcats were handed a 10–2 loss by UTSA on Friday night at Disch-Falk Field in Game 1 of the Austin Regional, falling into the loser’s bracket on opening day of regional play.

K-State will now face Houston Christian in a win-or-go-home game Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

The Roadrunners set the tone early, scoring in the first inning off K-State starter Jacob Frost and never looking back. A seven-run burst across the sixth and seventh innings blew the game open and effectively sealed it.

The Wildcats never mounted a serious comeback. A.J. Evasco drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth—his 49th RBI of the season—before Nick English added a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh to cut the deficit to 6–2. That was as close as it got.

Frost lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up five hits, five earned runs, and four walks while striking out five. His defense didn’t help much, committing two costly errors.

UTSA racked up 10 hits, including two home runs. Right fielder James Taussig went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Zach Royse earned the win for the Roadrunners, tossing 5 1/3 innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five.

Friday marked K-State’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and second straight under head coach Pete Hughes. It’s also the program’s first back-to-back regional bids since 2010–11.

The teams had split their four previous meetings dating back to 2008, with the Wildcats winning the last matchup 5–4 in 2009. UTSA now holds a 3–2 edge in the all-time series.

The winner of the Austin Regional will advance to face the Los Angeles Regional champion in a best-of-three Super Regional series from June 6–9. That regional features No. 15 national seed UCLA, UC Irvine, Arizona State, and Fresno State.

All games from the Austin Regional are streaming live on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.