The University of Texas won’t depart for the Southeastern Conference without at least one more game against Texas Tech.

The Texas Tech baseball team will face Texas at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington. It’s the last of four first-round games. Tech (31-24) is the No. 10 seed and Texas (35-20) the No. 3 seed.

Texas won two of three games against Tech on the first weekend of Big 12 play.

Saturday was the last day of the Big 12 regular-season schedule.

Texas completed a three-game sweep of Kansas, but Oklahoma State clinched the No. 2 seed by sweeping a doubleheader at Houston. Oklahoma State played two fewer games than Texas — two of its last four regular-season conference games being rained out — and finished with a higher conference winning percentage than the Longhorns.

Conference champion Oklahoma (34-18) as the No. 1 seed and Oklahoma State (37-16) as the No. 2 seed have byes in the 10-team bracket and don’t have to play until Wednesday.

Tuesday’s other first-round games pit No. 6 seed Kansas State (31-22) against No. 7 seed Kansas (29-21) at 9 a.m., No. 4 seed West Virginia (33-20) against No. 9 seed TCU (31-19) at 12:30 p.m. and No. 5 seed Cincinnati (31-23) against No. 8 seed Central Florida (33-18) at 4 p.m.

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If Tech beats Texas, the Red Raiders would play Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. If Tech loses to Texas, the Red Raiders would play the Cincinnati-UCF loser at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Tech finished the regular-season with three non-conference games in Phoenix, starting with 21-5 loss to Arizona State on Thursday night. On Friday, the Red Raiders beat Nevada-Las Vegas 13-12 and lost to Arizona State 17-11.

Because of the short turnaround before the start of the Big 12 tournament, Tech starting pitchers Kyle Robinson and Ryan Free pitched only one and two innings, respectively, in Phoenix.

High-leverage relief pitcher Trendan Parish, out since April 1 because of injury, returned and pitched 1 1/3 innings in Friday’s game against Arizona State. The junior righthander retired all four batters he faced.

Top-seeded Texas matched its efficiency with plenty of explosiveness while blasting Northwestern 14-2 Saturday at McCombs Field and cruising into the final day of the NCAA Tournament’s Austin Regionals with a 2-0 record.

A day after leaving a dozen on the bags in a 5-0 win over Siena, Texas (49-7) didn’t strand a single runner while racking up a dozen hits against the Wildcats, including four home runs. That helped ease some frustrations for a Texas squad still miffed about squandering its opportunities at the plate on Friday.

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“After the game yesterday, we had a pretty tough talk about our performance and how we have higher standards for this program,” said second baseman Alyssa Washington. “And yesterday, we just didn’t play to those. So there was just some self-reflection (which) prompted us come back and make a change today.”

Washington, a senior team captain, led the way. She went 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs, three RBIs, and the first of Texas’ four home runs. Designated player Joley Mitchell, centerfielder Kayden Henry and third baseman Mia Scott also had home runs and helped the Longhorns rack up 12 hits.

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Texas coach Mike White said his team played with a renewed sense of urgency, which will bode well as the competition stiffens with each round of the tournament.

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“You can’t afford to come in here and think you’re going just turn up and win,” he said. “It just doesn’t happen that way. These teams are coming here for a reason; they want to win. I think we got ahead of ourselves (on Friday) and we started looking ahead. We didn’t play with the same high energy that we had all year. It’s just getting them to know that ‘Hey, this is this could be our last weekend to play for the season.’ So I liked the energy we had today.”  

Citlaly Gutierrez earned the win in the circle after scattering four hits across four innings in the game shortened to five innings in the run-rule game. White said he hopes his players “find some air-conditioning and relax a bit” while they wait to find out Sunday’s opponent.

Saint Francis and Siena faced off in Saturday’s second game, with the winner taking on Northwestern in the third and final game Saturday. Whoever wins that third game will face Texas at noon on Sunday, and that team will need to beat Texas twice to advance to next weekend’s Super Regionals.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar insists he has no intention of stepping down since being indicted on federal charges accusing him of taking nearly $600,000 in bribes.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Cuellar told reporters asking if he was contemplating resignation after the indictment was announced May 3. “Everybody’s innocent until proven otherwise and we are going to continue doing our job.”

He stood by that position this week after it was revealed federal prosecutors have secured guilty pleas from three people in connection with the case against him. He and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, are accused of participating in schemes involving bribery, illegal foreign influence and money laundering. Cuellar denies the allegations.

The federal indictment alleges the Democrat from Laredo accepted almost $600,000 in bribes to advance the interests of the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and a bank in Mexico.

The most serious charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

Former top Cuellar aide Colin Strother and political consultant Florencio Rendon are cooperating with the federal investigation, according to plea agreements filed in March.

Strother’s attorney declined comment. Rendon’s attorney said he could not immediately comment.

The Associated Press reported this week that a third person pleaded guilty May 1 in Houston federal court to acting as an agent for Azerbaijan without registering with federal officials.

CNN confronted Cuellar on Capitol Hill this week about the guilty pleas, but the Texan said he isn’t going anywhere.

“We’re not afraid of the truth,” said Cuellar, who is on the November ballot as he seeks an 11th two-year term.

Other politicians have won reelection with pending indictments, including Ken Paxton, Texas’ Republican attorney general.

Two Republicans, Jay Furman and Lazaro Garza Jr., are competing in a May 28 runoff to determine who will face Cuellar in November.

It is unclear how much Republicans will spend on the race, having seen challengers fall short in previous bids against the incumbent.

Cuellar faced a close call in the 2022 Democratic primary but won by 13.3 percentage points that November.

After the indictment was unsealed, the National Republican Congressional Committee pounced, calling for Cuellar’s fellow Democrats to push for his resignation. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., did so, but he’s a striking exception.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Thursday he had not rescinded his endorsement of Cuellar and he wanted to give the Texan time and space to “work out his legal situation” without wading into politics.

“I support Henry Cuellar’s right to a trial by jury,” Jeffries said. “He is innocent until proven guilty.”

The George Santos precedent

The NRCC accused Democrats of hypocrisy for pressing to oust U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., over his own criminal charges.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, said it’s a sign of a healthy democracy when those in power are held to account. He pointed to an initial failed vote to kick out Santos, which Allred opposed, citing a lack of due process.

Allred joined others in voting for Santos’ successful expulsion on a subsequent vote, after the release of a scathing report by the Ethics Committee that cited “overwhelming evidence” Santos used campaign funds for personal purposes and committed other crimes.

There has been no such report on Cuellar.

“Due process still has to be observed,” Allred said.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, noted Cuellar said he sought and received legal opinions from the Ethics Committee before taking actions cited in the indictment.

“As a criminal defense attorney, I always go with the presumption of innocence,” she said. “So I’m hoping for the best.”

Republicans not going after Cuellar

Many Republicans in Congress, including those from Texas, also are inclined to let the legal process play out for Cuellar, an occasional political ally.

After news of the indictment broke, several Texas Republicans cited Cuellar’s record of working on bipartisan measures and his penchant for breaking with his party over his opposition to abortion rights, support for tougher border security measures and other issues.

“I know Henry to be a really good man, and for whatever he’s going through, I feel sorry for him,” said U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park. “He’s well-liked. He’s a good man and he thinks a lot like conservatives do on certain issues.”

Williams said he has been Cuellar’s friend for many years and remains one, noting that he served as Texas secretary of state after Cuellar held the position.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, also called the Democrat a friend.

“I know they’ve been coming after him for a while,” Jackson said. “They come after him, in part, because he does on occasion vote with us.”

U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-San Angelo, called Cuellar a “great member to work with” on issues from energy to agriculture.

Across the Capitol, both Republican U.S. senators from Texas spoke positively about working with Cuellar on various issues.

Sen. Ted Cruz said the allegations are “serious” and “concerning,” but he also highlighted issues of agreement, such as streamlining approval of new U.S.-Mexico bridges across the Rio Grande and designating a new interstate corridor running from Laredo through West Texas.

“He has been a strong partner fighting for jobs in Texas, and together we’ve gotten a lot accomplished for the state,” Cruz said.

Cruz, who wrote a book accusing Democrats of “weaponizing” the justice system, said it’s fair to ask whether the case against Cuellar is politically motivated.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he’s enjoyed working with Cuellar and feels for him, but the matter is up to the courts.

“Henry has always been a bipartisan individual and he’s one of the very few pro-life [Democratic] House members and frankly, you know, you can see where he may be in disfavor by the current administration,” Cornyn said.