Ruger Riojas likely for key super regional role

On paper, the story of Ruger Riojas has the cliché markings of one about Texas baseball being led by a lifelong Longhorn.

Riojas was born at nearby St. David’s. He was raised in Austin’s backyard. And his parents were both Austinites who grew up rooting for Longhorns sports teams.

Yet, this isn’t one of those stories.

The Texas Longhorns weren’t a part of Riojas’ formative years. He says that he didn’t actually cheer for any college baseball teams during his childhood. His father loved the Cincinnati Reds, and that fandom was passed down to him. Joey Votto and Bronson Arroyo were his guys.

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Riojas, though, didn’t completely ignore the Longhorns. In fact, he has long known what it’s like to witness one of those moments at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. He was seated there among an announced crowd of 6,779 on a picturesque Friday night in May 2018 when Kody Clemens’ walk-off homer beat TCU, keeping Texas in the hunt for a Big 12 title and jump-starting the Longhorns’ march to the College World Series.

“That home run still swims around in college baseball today,” Riojas recently told the American-Statesman. “Being able to see it in person, it’s definitely a core memory for me. It was really cool to see.”

Eight years after Clemens went deep, Riojas may have an opportunity to have one of those moments of his own at Disch-Falk. The Longhorns’ senior right-hander is lined up to start a game of this weekend’s best-of-three NCAA super regional series against Oregon, either Sunday’s Game 2 or Monday’s third game, if necessary. The Longhorns also could use him out of the bullpen this weekend.

It’s entirely possible that Riojas (5-2, 3.86 ERA) has already had one of those moments at Disch-Falk. Last year, he threw 5 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball against Texas A&M at UT’s home park, and he was the pitcher of record there for a win over an LSU team that eventually won the national championship, and he threw 119 pitches against Kansas State to keep Texas alive in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. He began this season as UT’s Friday starter and had an 11-strikeout performance against Alabama at home two months ago.

He also started in last week’s Austin Regional final against UC Santa Barbara. He allowed three hits and one run over five innings while striking out six Gauchos. He received a no-decision for the effort, but Texas eventually advanced in the NCAA Tournament with a 6-4 win.

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For Riojas, that start against UC Santa Barbara was a personal highlight for a senior season that has included a lengthy battle with shoulder tendonitis. He still hasn’t thrown more than 80 pitches in a game since April 18. In the 20 days between a pushed-back start at Tennessee and the UCSB game, Riojas threw just five pitches during a brief appearance on UT’s senior day. He wasn’t a part of Texas’ pitching plans at the SEC Tournament.

“As much as I wanted to throw in the SEC Tournament and (on senior day), I think the rest worked out,” Riojas said. “I haven’t felt this good in a long time, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”

Recruited out of the transfer portal by Texas’ new coaching staff during the summer of 2024, Riojas has appeared in 33 games over the past two seasons. He’s 14-5 with a 4.73 ERA.

Riojas considered going pro last summer, but he wasn’t satisfied with how the Longhorns’ season ended and felt like he could still improve with another year of college. Besides, he explained that “last year’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life playing baseball and just being with the right group of people, I wasn’t ready to leave that yet.”

This season, Riojas is responsible for 106 of UT’s school-record 630 strikeouts. He and Dylan Volantis have also become the first Texas teammates to record 100 strikeouts during the same season since 2011.

“He’s been amazing. He was kind of an all-time pitcher last year where he could pitch in any role, throws a ton of strikes, really good athlete, brings a lot of leadership in his own way to the pitching staff and to the team,” Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “In the transfer portal era, to have someone with that much love for the school and for the program, and for that person to be here for a couple years, that adds a lot.”

Armed with a unique personality that matches his name — yes, Ruger is named after the gun manufacturer — Riojas grew up in Wimberley, a one-high school Central Texas town that loves its football. Wimberley football teams won state championships in 2005 and 2011, but Riojas’ mother wouldn’t let him play football. Baseball instead became his sport at a young age. And even though he was originally an outfielder, Riojas eventually began to believe that he could “probably make a career out of throwing the ball.”

While in high school, he received scholarship offers only from nearby UTSA and Incarnate Word. He picked the Roadrunners and found some success in San Antonio over his first two years of college.

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Wanting a chance to pitch in the SEC, Riojas entered the portal in 2024 and ended up at Texas. His first year with the Longhorns, though, was ended by an upstart UTSA team in the Austin Regional. That irony was not lost on the ex-Roadrunner.

“I took it a little personal. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Riojas said. “Losing to them in the regional that way, it was probably one of the worst feelings of my life. I left there for something great and they ended up beating us like a storybook ending. So I don’t want the season this year to end that way. That’s why I came back.”

While UTSA got its storybook ending last season, Riojas is still looking for his. Any happy ending for the UT baseball program would feature a trip to a College World Series that last featured the Longhorns in 2022. Two wins against Oregon this weekend will accomplish just that.