AUSTIN, Texas — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball Team (38-18) will make its 16^th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2026, with the Gauchos earning an at-large bid to this year's field of 64. Santa Barbara will travel to No. 6 national seed Texas for the Austin Regional as the no. 2 seed, taking on Tarleton State (37-19) in the opening round. Holy Cross rounds out the field and will face the hosting Longhorns.
 
The Gauchos finished the regular season with a 37-16 record and a share of The Big West Regular Season Championship, winning 10 of their final 11 regular-season contests. Despite falling short in The Big West Championship tournament, Santa Barbara's 38-18 overall record ranks as the 25^th-best winning percentage in Division-I baseball this year. The Gauchos' strength has been its pitching staff, which ranks among the top 10 in the country for ERA, hits allowed per nine innings, and WHIP. The jewel in their crown is Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist Jackson Flora, whose 1.05 ERA leads all qualified Division-I pitchers. Flora has architected a pair of complete game shutouts this season, and his 124 strikeouts have him five away from a new single-season program record.
 
Santa Barbara and Tarleton State will meet for the first time ever on Friday when they open their first-ever visit to an Austin Regional. The Gauchos have played one other regional in SEC country, the 2016 Nashville Regional, which they swept en route to their first-ever College World Series appearance. This year marks Santa Barbara's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years under head coach Andrew Checketts.
 
First pitch against the Texans is scheduled for 3 p.m. Pacific Time from UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.