A regular season of 53 games has come down to this: it’s time for the Big Dance. Texas A&M earned the 12th seed in the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament and will host the College Station Regional this weekend beginning on Friday. Texas State, Southern California, and Lamar are all headed to take on the Aggies at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, where one will advance to the Super Regional round. The winner of this Regional will face off against the winner of the Chapel Hill Regional, hosted by #5 North
Carolina.
Here’s a reminder on the format: 64 teams were selected and placed in 16 four-team regionals. Each regional is double-elimination, with the host playing the designated four-seed, while the two and three seeds face off in the opening round. On day two, the winners play each other for the right to advance to the regional final, while the losers play for their tournament lives. If a team loses in the winner bracket game, they have to play a doubleheader to get to the regional final. The regional final is also double-elimination, meaning a potential game seven is at play.
The College Station Regional has a unique group of teams headed to the Brazos Valley. USC (43-15), the two seed, has a top-10 RPI, went 20-10 in the Big Ten, lost one game at home (32-1), and was arguably a dark horse host. Texas State (36-24), the three seed, barely snuck into the field with one game above .500 in Sun Belt play as they won their final six conference games to even have a shot at an at-large. Finally, Lamar (34-25), the four seed, won the Southland Conference championship after six straight victories in the tournament format. They are among the field of 64 for the first time since 2010, the last time they won their conference. Lamar is playing one final time for head coach Will Davis, who recently accepted the vacant head coaching job at Houston.
A&M’s opening round matchup will be the Cardinals, a team they beat soundly in their first midweek of the year. A 25-5 seven-inning run rule on Tuesday, February 24, is not the best representation of the Southland champs, especially as the conference’s pitcher of the year, Chris Olivier, did not throw. The senior right-hander from Mandeville, La., holds a 7-4 record with a 2.66 ERA. He’ll look to keep one of the nation’s best offenses quiet, with a .180 batting average against. The ace has 103 strikeouts to 35 walks and projects to be Lamar’s starter against the Maroon and White.
After their early and flat exit from the SEC Tournament, the Aggies must find their offensive rhythm again. They have played twice (May 16 vs. Mississippi State, May 22 vs. Auburn in Hoover) in the last two weeks, which should have helped the squad get back to full health. Freshman Nico Partida seems ready to go, per head coach Michael Earley’s post-selection show press conference, while Boston Kellner has readjusted to playing with his softball-like mask. A&M was shut out for the first time in 2026 in their showing at the Hoover Met, certainly a one-off. They enter their home regional with the best offense among the four teams but must piece together above-average pitching performances should they want to advance. On the mound, expect Aidan Sims to return but be held for Saturday’s game. The most consistent pitcher on the staff was shut down for the final three weeks of the season, having last thrown against Ole Miss on May 9. He struck out five over three innings of work that day in the first game of a doubleheader; since then, the pitching staff has allowed 40 runs in 36 innings. Coach Earley will hand the ball to southpaw Shane Sdao in the opening round against the Cardinals, hoping the junior can set the tone for A&M and lead them to the winner’s bracket game on Saturday. Since a one-inning start against Auburn on May 2, Sdao has been used as a long reliever following pseudo-openers Ethan Darden and Weston Moss. Sdao has 78 strikeouts in 68 innings of work across 15 appearances.
As expected, A&M played the most games against NCAA Tournament competition, going 15-13 this season. Texas State ranks second with an 11-13 record against the field of 64, with four of those wins coming against in-conference rival Louisiana. Outside of a four-game sweep of Big West champion Cal Poly, USC went 2-11 in their other 13 games against the field, while Lamar finished 2-5 with wins over Big 12 champion Kansas and WAC champion Tarleton State.
Ahead of their second matchup this year, the Aggies and Cardinals have eight common opponents between schedules (Oakland, Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word, Stephen F. Austin, Houston Christian, Sam Houston, and Tarleton State). A&M went 11-0 against these eight opponents with four run-rule wins, while Lamar managed an 11-8 record.
Texas A&M shares one opponent with USC (UCLA), and they are a combined 0-4 against the nation’s top team. The Cardinals and Trojans have two common opponents (Rice and Oregon State), as Lamar went 0-5 and USC went 3-1. Texas State and USC played different schedules with zero overlapping opponents, but the Bobcats and Cardinals share nine common opponents (LAM – 11-8 record; TXST – 6-7 record).
The four-team College Station Regional is the third toughest of the 16 pods, as per average RPI (39), only behind the Lawrence Regional (37.75) and Hattiesburg Regional (38). The Aggies definitely don’t have an easy draw, and you could make a case for any of the four teams to win this regional. A&M holds the best offense, USC can pitch the best, Texas State slugs, and Lamar has the “coach is leaving, let’s win it for him” narrative. All of this is to say, it should be an excellent weekend of play in Aggieland.
A&M has history against all three foes. The Maroon and White have won nine of the last 10 played against Lamar in College Station and 34 of the 42 total matchups. After splitting the pair of contests this season, the Aggies are 50-16 against Texas State with a 34-11 inside Blue Bell Park. Finally, the Trojans have only faced A&M seven times, all in the Lone Star State, holding a 4-3 advantage over the Aggies. However, the two have played just twice this century, with A&M winning both, including the most recent meeting at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, in 2024 (9-3 score).
The Aggies take a 12-game postseason home winning streak into this week’s regional, playing extremely well on the corner of Bush and Olsen during that timeframe. The last team to hand A&M a loss at home in Aggieland was TCU in game three of the 2016 College Station Super Regional. In the Super Regional era (since 1999), the Maroon and White are 38-12 at home and have won 18 of the 21 games played since 2015 in Aggieland.
Both opening round games will be on national television, as A&M and Lamar kick off the action at 3:00 p.m. CT on the SEC Network, while the Trojans and Bobcats follow at 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The rest of the regional schedule can be viewed here.
Probable Starters:
- Friday (vs. Lamar): LHP Shane Sdao (4-4, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Olivier (7-4, 2.66 ERA)
- Saturday (vs. USC or Texas State): RHP Aidan Sims (8-1, 3.84 ERA) vs. TBA
Game Info (weather permitting):
- Friday (Lamar vs. 12 Texas A&M): 3:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network
- Friday (Texas State vs. USC): 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPNU
BTHO Lamar, Texas State and USC.
