UTSA Baseball’s NCAA Tournament Run Is Moneyball in Action

As money increasingly shapes the narrative in college athletics, UTSA’s upset win over Texas in Saturday’s NCAA baseball regional stood as a rare and resounding counterpoint that financial might doesn’t always guarantee victory.

In a classic budgetary David-vs-Goliath matchup, the Roadrunners toppled the Longhorns—a program that spends more than three-and-a-half times as much on its baseball operations. UTSA’s 9-7 victory in Austin vaulted the team into tonight’s NCAA Tournament regional final.

According to the schools’ latest NCAA financial disclosures, UTSA reported $1.73 million in total operating expenses for the 2024 fiscal year. Texas, by contrast, spent $6.35 million—excluding an additional $5.2 million in coaching severance.

By comparison, the SEC power reported $6.35 million in total baseball expenditures for the same period—excluding an additional $5.2 million paid out in coaching severance payments.

The disparity was stark across nearly every category.

UTSA paid head coach Pat Hallmark $272,296, while assistants Ryan Aguayo and Zach Butler earned a combined $240,741. (The program added a third assistant, Michael Cavazos, last August.) Texas spent $1.8 million on its former head coach David Pierce and another $1.22 million on three full-time assistants. After firing Pierce last June, the Longhorns hired former Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, who reportedly earns $1 million this season with a contract that rises to $2.68 million by 2026–27.

Recruiting budgets also underscored the resource gap: UTSA spent $28,001, while Texas allocated $147,739. UTSA reported $96,202 in equipment and uniform expenses—less than a third of Texas’s $317,227. Unlike Texas, UTSA had no support staff expenditures, because it had no support staff. That changed in October with the hiring of Luke Malone as director of player development and analytics.

Saturday’s victory was UTSA’s second over Texas this year, following a 12-inning, 8–7 regular season win on March 18. At 46–13, the Roadrunners entered Sunday’s regional final with momentum, having already defeated a more financially comparable Kansas State team—though even the Wildcats still drastically outspent UTSA with a $3.78 million budget in FY24.

On Sunday night, UTSA is set to face the winner of the earlier Texas–Kansas State elimination game in the Austin regional final.

Regardless of the outcome, the Roadrunners have already made a compelling case for at least one thing next season: a bigger budget. Then again, that would kind of defeat their point.