Ryan Stacy slammed a one-out, solo home run to ignite a four-run first inning for the UTSA Roaodrunners, who rolled to an 11-1 road victory over Old Dominion Friday night in Norfolk, Va.
Fueling a 17-hit attack, freshman Dylan Rock went 4 for 5 at the plate. He scored three runs and drove in two.
Junior righthander Nathan Alexander picked up the victory by starting and pitching five scoreless innings.
He gave up three hits.
In UTSA’s last Conference USA road trip of the season, the Roadrunners and Monarchs are set to play Saturday and Sunday.
After falling behind by a run early, the UTSA Roadrunners scored 11 in a row en route to an 11-1 victory Tuesday night over the Incarnate Word Cardinals.
Playing a non-conference game at home, UTSA pounded 15 hits in rolling to its second straight victory and its fifth in the last six outings.
The Roadrunners hit two homers, with Tony Beam connecting in the fifth and Ryan Stacy in the sixth.
Both were two-run shots. When Stacy clobbered a ball over the wall in right-center, UTSA had increased its lead to 8-1.
Eddy Gonzalez, Incarnate Word’s leading hitter, was held in check on a 1-for-4 performance.
Regardless, his batting average remained at an impressive .386.
Gonzalez doubled to lead off the second and ended up scoring UIW’s only run.
Records
UTSA 22-17
Incarnate Word 25-17
Coming up
UTSA — At Middle Tennessee, three games, Friday through Sunday (Conference USA)
Incarnate Word — At New Orleans, three games, Friday through Sunday (Southland Conference)
UTSA players applaud teammate Ben Brookover as he rounds the bases following a three-run homer in the opener of a doubleheader Friday against FIU.
FIU freshman Logan Allen got a second chance to beat the UTSA Roadrunners on Friday night, and he didn’t waste it.
Coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter, Allen belted a solo homer in the eighth inning to boost the Golden Panthers to a 2-1 victory and a split of a Conference USA baseball doubleheader at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA won the first game, 12-4, saddling Allen with the loss as the starting pitcher.
Game 1 recap
Senior Ben Brookover and junior Ryan Stacy smashed three-run homers, lifting UTSA to its 20th victory of the season.
Brookover delivered in the fifth inning as UTSA rallied from a two-run deficit and into a 4-3 lead.
Batting from the left side, Stacy sliced a twisting shot over the left-field wall to highlight a six-run eighth, turning the game into a run-away.
“Just glad we were able to extend the lead in the first game,” UTSA coach Jason Marshall said. “To get a little bit of a cushion there, late in the game, and to win the first game in a series is always key and important, especially to defend your home turf on a Friday.”
Junior Kyrell Miller (3-1) was the winning pitcher in 3 and 2/3 innings of relief. He yielded one run on three hits.
Miller struck out seven and walked one.
“Knowing how (starter Steven) Dressler has thrown all year and to see him come out of the game early, and for us to just hold serve … Kyrell Miller threw really well,” Marshall said. “(He) struck a couple of guys out to end an inning and then struck three guys out the following inning.”
Allen (4-5) started for the Panthers and was pitching well until he ran into trouble in the fifth.
He grooved a pitch to Brookover, who jerked it on a line over the left field wall and into the net for a lead that UTSA would not relinquish.
FIU’s Lorenzo Hampton delivers an RBI triple to right field Friday in the opener of a doubleheader at UTSA.
FIU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in its first four at bats.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI triple by Lorenzo Hampton.
They added another run in the second on a solo homer by Adan Fernandez.
Game 2 recap
In evaluating what went wrong in the second game of the double-header, Marshall started his analysis with FIU starting pitcher Andres Nunez (see video above).
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound, right-hander pitched seven innings, limiting UTSA to one run on five hits. He struck out nine.
“You know, I got nightmares of Nunez,” Marshall said. “In 2015, he pitched an absolute fantastic game against us in the conference tournament.
“He’s had some hardships and some injuries, and now he’s back, and once again beats the Roadrunners.”
Allen also did his part.
After UTSA scratched out a run against Nunez to tie the game in the seventh, FIU coaches elected to pinch hit Allen for Juan Teixeira to lead off the eighth.
He delivered with a solo homer over the left field wall against UTSA reliever Derek Craft.
“He got into one, and on a night like tonight when the wind’s blowing out to left, it doesn’t take a lot,” Marshall said.
It was Allen’s first homer of the season in 82 at bats.
UTSA freshman Jonathan Tapia turns on the jets to beat a throw to first base after an FIU infield bobble in the seventh. The error allowed Chris Estrada to score from third, tying the game, 1-1.
Records
FIU 18-20, 8-9
UTSA 20-17, 8-8
Series schedule
Sunday: Single game, noon
Note: The schedule originally called for single games Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Officials on Thursday agreed to play two games Friday, take Saturday off because of forecasts for inclement weather, and then play the finale on Sunday.
