The Regional Round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament has officially arrived, and the Texas Longhorns face the Holy Cross Crusaders in their first postseason game.
In the matchup, Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle has called for left-handed pitcher Luke Harrison to start the game on the mound for the Horns.
Harrison, a graduate athlete, earned a 6-3 win-loss record in the regular season, dishing out 80 strikeouts and giving up just 44 runs on 66 hits over 72.0 innings pitched.
However, Harrison isn't the only elite pitcher in the matchup, with Holy Cross head coach Ed Kahovec starting Jaden Wywoda on the mound for the Crusaders.
Luke Harrison and Jaden Wywoda to start on the mound in Regional opener
Kahovec is just a few days removed from pitching a 122-pitch perfect game, leading the Crusaders through the Patriot League conference tournament.
"He threw a complete game, 122 pitch effort on Monday, we lost on Tuesday, and then Wednesday he closed out the game with 78 pitches, so you talk about grit, you talk about toughness, you talk about selflessness, he's all of those things. He's one of the most reliable people that I've ever had the honor of coaching on the field, off the field," Kahovec said.
He came in for the Crusaders two games later to save Holy Cross's conference tournament run, throwing out 78 more pitches, and pitched 6 innings in another one of the tournament games.
"It's not who can you win with, it's who can you lose with, right? If you have this guy on the mound and you lose, you're gonna be kicking yourself. You say no, that was the right guy. And 100 times out of 100, Jaden is the right guy," Kahovec said.
Despite all of that hype, the Longhorns have complete faith in Harrison, and both Schlossnagle and Texas catcher Carson Tinney said as much.
"You just trust the person, you know he's ready, you know he's going to prepare all week, you know he's going to not be spooked, whether it be a home game or on the road, and he's been through just about everything that a college pitcher can go through," Schlossnagle said.
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"With the respect that he has amongst the program, I think that we're all willing to go out there and die with him on the mound," Tinney said about his starting pitcher. "He possesses those attributes that's not something that you can learn or create."
The Longhorns and the Crusaders are scheduled to play at noon CT, with Harrison throwing out the first pitch. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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