{"id":333014,"date":"2026-06-12T01:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T01:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/333014\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T01:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T01:57:13","slug":"texas-pack-cozart-earn-national-honors-after-standout-freshmen-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/333014\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas\u2019 Pack, Cozart earn national honors after standout freshmen seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN (KXAN) \u2014 After missing out of the Men\u2019s College World Series last season, Texas is back in Omaha competing for the coveted national title with seven other opponents. While there\u2019s been many contributing factors to the team\u2019s resurgence this year, two of the Longhorns freshmen additions have stood out from the rest.<\/p>\n

\"AUSTIN,<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, TX \u2013 MAY 29: Outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. #6 of the Texas Longhorns points to fans as he rounds the bases after hitting his third home run during the NCAA Division I Regional game between Texas Longhorns and Holy Cross Crusaders on May 29, 2026, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, TX. (Photo by David Buono\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Relief pitcher Sam Cozart and outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. have been revelations for Texas, and this week they were recognized for their key contributions to a national championship contender.<\/p>\n

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Former MLB 1st round pick switches dugouts for Triple-A series after Rangers release him <\/a><\/p>\n

Pack was announced as Baseball America\u2019s National Freshman of the Year, becoming the fifth Longhorn to win the honor. Pack has been a mainstay for Texas at the top of the order, slashing .359\/.485\/.597 for the season with 74 hits, 58 runs and 20 steals as well (all top-four among Power Four freshmen).<\/p>\n

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound outfielder from Lakewood, California also received the SEC Freshman of the Year award last month, and was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman All-American earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\"AUSTIN,<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, TX \u2013 MAY 31: Pitcher Sam Cozart #35 of the Texas Longhorns walks off the field during the NCAA Division I Regional game between Texas Longhorns and UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on May 31, 2026, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, TX. (Photo by David Buono\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Texas sweeps Oregon, advances to Men\u2019s College World Series for record 39th time <\/a><\/p>\n

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On the other hand, Cozart was named as the NCBWA National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, becoming the third Texas pitcher to win the honor. Cozart had to earn his way to the team\u2019s closing role, but once he did, he was never giving it back.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound stalwart led Division I pitchers in WHIP (0.69) and batting average (.132), while also ranking second in ERA (1.64). In his 22 appearances, Cozart has recorded 71 strikeouts, only 12 walks and nine saves, including the one on Sunday against Oregon which sent the Longhorns to the MCWS.<\/p>\n

Texas has plenty of talent elsewhere, but it\u2019s hard to imagine a scenario where it makes it to Omaha without the help of its two freshmen stars.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN (KXAN) \u2014 After missing out of the Men\u2019s College World Series last season, Texas is back in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[67086,29173,114660,84117,27,29,537,28,15828,60844],"class_list":["post-333014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-anthony-pack-jr","tag-holy-cross-crusaders","tag-ncaa-division-i-regional","tag-sam-cozart","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-news","tag-the-longhorns","tag-ufcu-disch-falk-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}