Tag Archives: UTSA Roadrunners

Roadrunners beat the Memphis Tigers to win another road series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Mason Lytle homered twice for the first time this season and tied a season-high with four RBIs on Sunday as the UTSA Roadrunners moved into first in the American Athletic Conference by beating the Memphis Tigers, 7-5.

The Roadrunners won the finale of a three-game series in Memphis on the strength of hitting by Lytle and James Taussig and the pitching of Fischer Kingsbery, who worked four scoreless innings to close the game.

Lytle went two for four on the day. He homered to lead off the game in the top of the first and added a go-ahead two-run blast in the sixth. Taussig highlighted a three-hit day with a two-run double in the first inning and a solo home run in the seventh.

Kingsbery blanked the Tigers in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Allowing no runs on only two hits, he lowered his earned run average to 1.90. Kingsbery struck out five and walked two.

UTSA won two of three over Memphis for its fourth straight series victory in AAC play. Also, the victory pushed the Roadrunners (9-3) into sole possession of first place over the East Carolina Pirates (8-4) in the AAC standings. The Pirates lost 8-7 at home to the Charlotte 49ers.

For Memphis, Will Marcy went four for four, scored a run and produced an RBI. Duane Stuart hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to lift the Tigers into a 5-4 lead. Lytle answered in the top of the sixth with a two-run shot of his own, pushing the Roadrunners ahead 6-5.

Third baseman Ty Tilson made one of the better defensive plays of the day for UTSA in the bottom of the eighth when he took away a hit with a diving grab of a hard-hit ground ball. Tilson came up throwing to get the force at second base. Kingsbery finished the inning by fanning Shane Cox looking.

Series recap

Friday: UTSA wins, 9-6
Saturday: Memphis wins, 12-5
Sunday: UTSA wins, 7-5
UTSA wins series, two games to one

Records

UTSA 21-15, 9-3
Memphis 18-19, 6-6

Coming up

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at UTSA, 6 p.m.

Notable

The Roadrunners improved to 11-4 in their last 15 games. They also remained undefeated at 4-0 on Sundays in AAC play. In UTSA’s inaugural season of play in the conference, it owns series victories over East Carolina (2-1), Tulane (3-0), Charlotte (2-1) and Memphis (2-1).

UTSA won the Tulane and Memphis series on the road …

Ulises Quiroga (4-0) pitched the first five innings to earn the victory. He gave up five runs, all earned, on six hits. Quiroga walked three and struck out four. He yielded home runs to Pierre Seals in the second inning and to Stuart in the fifth. Kingsbery earned his second save of the season. For Memphis, reliever Logan Rushing (0-2) was tagged with the loss …

Mason Lytle had a season high-tying four RBIs, matching the four he had in a series closing victory at Tulane on March 30 …

Correction

An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that the Roadrunners were tied for first with the East Carolina Pirates in the AAC. Sorry about the error. Here is a look at the top of the standings:

UTSA 9-3, 21-15
East Carolina 8-4, 27-8
South Florida 7-5, 21-15
Wichita State 7-5, 21-16

Softball: No. 24 Baylor edges UTSA, 2-1

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UTSA starting pitcher Jamie Gilbert. Baylor beat UTSA 2-1 in non-conference softball on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA starting pitcher Jamie Gilbert went the distance on Tuesday afternoon at home against the Baylor Bears. No. 24 Baylor emerged with a 2-1 victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander

With some UTSA fans donning “Beat the Bears” T-shirts Tuesday afternoon, the stage was set for a showdown at Roadrunner Field.

The 24th-ranked Bears fell behind early but scored one run in the fifth inning and another in the seventh to down the Roadrunners. Ashlyn Wachtendorf came up big for Baylor with RBI singles in both innings.

Working hard on a 110-pitch performance, Jamie Gilbert starred for UTSA. The senior from La Vernia allowed only five hits and one earned run. Jaylen Prichard went three for four at the plate for the Roadrunners.

Prichard, a junior from Liberty, Tex., helped UTSA score its only run of the game in the bottom of the third.

With one on and one out, she singled to left to put runners at first and second. Taylor Jensen then reached on an error, allowing Madi Hays to score from second base.

Records

Baylor 22-14
UTSA 12-30

Coming up

Charlotte will play at UTSA in an American Athletic Conference series, Friday at 6 p.m. and then Saturday and Sunday, both at 1 p.m.

UTSA right fielder Caton Letbetter. Baylor beat UTSA 2-1 in non-conference softball on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA right fielder Caton Letbetter tracks down a fly ball against the Baylor Bears. – Photo by Joe Alexander .

UTSA surges into the AAC lead with a third straight weekend series victory

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Ty Tilson, Caleb Hill and Lorenzo Moressi hit home runs to back the pitching of Ulises Quiroga as the UTSA Roadrunners cruised to their second run-rule victory in two days, a 13-1 decision over the Charlotte 49ers.

Next up for UTSA is a Tuesday night non-conference road game at third-ranked Texas A&M. The Roadrunners will carry some momentum into College Station, having won nine of their last 11 ball games.

Pat Hallmark. UTSA beat 10th-ranked East Carolina 4-2 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, March 24, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Pat Hallmark’s UTSA Roadrunners have won nine of their last 11 games leading into Tuesday night’s matchup at third-ranked Texas A&M. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Included in their run of success are American Athletic Conference series victories over the East Carolina Pirates, the Tulane Green Wave and the 49ers.

UTSA, leading the AAC standings by one game after three weekends, won two of three against nationally-ranked East Carolina, swept three on the road at Tulane and took two of three from Charlotte.

The Roadrunners played both the Pirates and the 49ers at home and asserted themselves against programs picked in the AAC preseason poll to finish first and second, respectively, in the recently reconfigured conference.

Charlotte won the series opener on Friday night, claiming a 10-5 decision. UTSA bounced back to win 14-4 on Saturday afternoon. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games were halted in the seventh inning with the Roadrunners leading by 10 runs or more.

Tilson ignited UTSA in the series finale when he entered the game as a pinch hitter with two out and two on base in the bottom of the fourth. He promptly drilled a three-run homer off 49ers relief ace AJ Wilson as the Roadrunners took a 5-1 lead.

Hill and Moressi both slammed homers in the sixth inning. Hill went to the opposite field, slicing a ball to left. Moressi drilled a ball to right center for UTSA’s second three-run shot of the game.

Meanwhile, Quiroga (3-0) earned the pitching victory by working six innings. He allowed one run on three hits and walked three. Quiroga was good with his command when he needed it and struck out a season-high seven.

Records

Charlotte 14-18, 4-5
UTSA 19-13, 7-2

Coming up

UTSA at Texas A&M, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Notable

Mason Lytle’s 17-game hitting streak came to an end in the series finale against Charlotte. The junior from Pearland High School went 0 for 4 on the day. Lytle had hit safely in every game he had played since March 9. In those 17 games, he had 39 hits in 80 at bats for a .488 average. In addition, Lytle had posted multiple hits in 14 straight games. In that streak, he was 36 of 54 for a .562 average.

Lorenzo Moressi clubs a three-run homer in a five-run sixth inning for UTSA.
-Video from UTSA athletics on X, formerly Twitter

UTSA evens series with an emphatic 14-4, run-rule victory over Charlotte

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Hector Rodriguez strokes a two-out, two-run double in the third inning, lifting UTSA into a 4-4 tie with the Charlotte 49ers. Rodriguez went four-for-four on the day and produced three RBIs. – Video by Jerry Briggs

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

As Saturday morning dawned at Roadrunner Field, an air of tension filled the dressing area as UTSA players started to arrive for Game 2 of a three-game series against the Charlotte 49ers. They couldn’t shake the feeling that came with a dispiriting five-run loss on Friday night.

“We were not too happy this morning,” UTSA third baseman Hector Rodriguez said.

Motivated to make amends, the Roadrunners rolled behind Rodriguez and pitcher Ruger Riojas to a 14-4, run-rule victory. Rodriguez led the way offensively with four of UTSA’s 16 hits. Meanwhile, Riojas pitched four scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.

“We knew that we just had to come out and play our game, and I feel like that’s what we did,” Rodriguez said.

Records

Charlotte 14-17, 4-4
UTSA 18-13, 6-2

Coming up

Charlotte at UTSA, an American Athletic Conference series finale, Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
(Game time moved up 30 minutes to accommodate Charlotte’s travel).
Series is tied at one win apiece.

Notable

UTSA’s 10-5 setback to Charlotte on Friday night was costly in more ways than one.

Not only did it sting for the Roadrunners to give up eight unanswered runs to the visitors in one stretch of the game, but they also lost standout sophomore outfielder Tye Odom with an ankle injury. It’s uncertain how much time that Odom, a .342 hitter with power, will miss.

“I don’t know yet,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “They’ve taken two X-rays and there’s no fracture. That’s the only thing I’ve been told in terms of time frame. I’ve been told it’s high ankle sprain. No time frame yet.”

On Friday, the 49ers pitched the Roadrunners effectively. UTSA trailed 8-2 at one point and again at 10-4. An offense that leads the American just didn’t look very potent against 49ers lefthanders Cole Reynolds and AJ Wilson.

By Saturday afternoon, the Roadrunners shook off the poor performance and hammered away, with all but one position player picking up at least one hit. From the third through the sixth innings, they scored two, three, three and three runs, respectively.

Rodriguez went four for four and produced three RBIs, none bigger than the two he plated in the third inning with a double to the wall in center.

Mason Lytle extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a three-for-three showing, which included a first-inning solo homer. Both Matt King and Caleb Hill contributed two hits apiece, and King scored three runs.

“I thought we persisted very well with the bat,” Hallmark said. “The whole game, we persisted, which means that we didn’t have many lulls. You know, baseball’s a long game. It can be boring at times, and guys can just get in lulls and give at bats away, or slip up here and there, and I just thought we kept persisting. It paid off.”

The Roadrunners were scuffling a bit in the early going, giving up solo home runs to Johnny Sutryk in the second inning and to Juan Correa in the third. Correa’s 10th homer of the season lifted the 49ers into a 4-2 lead against UTSA starter Zach Royse.

In the bottom of the third, hard-throwing 49ers reliever Ryan Degges was one out away from blanking the Roadrunners when Rodriguez blasted a ball to the wall, scoring Alex Olivo from third and Broc Parmer from second.

“Hector’s been playing good ball,” Hallmark said. “He got a big hit in the Saturday game at Tulane (last weekend). It was tight. I think we were up by two and he got a big two-out double to give us a four-run lead, and it kind of broke their spirit a little bit. So, Hector’s been playing some good ball.”

Riojas, once again, showed dominant stuff in keeping the 49ers off the scoreboard for four innings. He allowed only two hits and gave up just two walks. He struck out four, including three in one eye-opening sequence.

With the Roadrunners protecting a 7-4 lead, Riojas (6-0) worked his magic in the top of the fifth. A walk and a single put runners at first and third with nobody out. In response, the sophomore righthander from Wimberley promptly struck out Correa, Reid Haire and Carson Bayne to shut down the visitors.

“He’s good,” Hallmark said. “He’s got talent. But he’s also got that competitive mindset that we like around here. We use the phrase, Junkyard Dog … He likes competition … He likes competing against other people that are good. You know, that phrase, iron sharpens iron.

“That’s what you need. On teams, you need a lot of those people. Matt King is like that. We got several people like that.”

A burgeoning streak

UTSA newcomer Mason Lytle has hit safely in 17 straight games, including multi-hit efforts in his last 14.

UTSA’s Hector Rodriguez completes a four-hit afternoon and secures a 14-4, run-rule victory over the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field. – Video by Jerry Briggs

Charlotte wins series opener as UTSA’s six-game winning streak comes to an end

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Charlotte pitcher Cole Reynolds. Charlotte beat UTSA 10-5 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 5, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Charlotte lefthander Cole Reynolds pitched five innings, limiting explosive UTSA to two runs on four hits to earn the victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners struck first Friday night, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Undaunted, the visiting Charlotte 49ers took a deep breath and retaliated with four of their own in the top of the third, and then they cruised the rest of the way to a 10-5 victory.

With the win, the 49ers claimed the opener of a three-game series and snapped the Roadrunners’ six-game winning streak. Afterward, Charlotte coach Robert Woodard said he expects nothing less than a “relentless” effort by UTSA over the next few days in an effort to make amends.

“Coach (Pat) Hallmark’s team is one of the most relentless we play every single year,” Woodard said. “They’re such a hard-nosed group. We knew that coming in. And I’d like to think they feel the same way about our club.

Andrew Stucky. Charlotte beat UTSA 10-5 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 5, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Andrew Stucky went two for three at the plate in the series opener against Charlotte. He also had an RBI and scored a run in the second inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I think it’s just a mutual respect,” he added. “You just roll up your sleeves and go at it for the weekend. So, yeah, it’s a great start to the weekend for us. But, as you know, tomorrow’s game will be here before you know it.”

Records

Charlotte 14-16, 4-3
UTSA 17-13, 5-2

Coming up

Charlotte at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Charlotte at UTSA, Sunday, noon

Notable

The Roadrunners entered the game with high hopes. Not only had they won six straight, but they had started off play in the American Athletic Conference with a two games-to-one home series victory over the nationally-ranked East Carolina Pirates and a three-game road sweep over the Tulane Green Wave.

On top of that, they had freshman Robert Orloski on the mound, and Orloski had just started to deliver over the past few weeks with some quality outings. After the two-run second inning, the Roadrunners felt even better.

The home crowd at Roadrunner Field was getting loud and boisterous after Andrew Stucky stroked an RBI double and then scored all the way from second on a wild pitch by Charlotte starter Cole Reynolds. After the ball caromed away from home plate, 49ers catcher Kaden Hopson couldn’t find it, allowing Stucky to round third and score easily.

Mason Lytle. Charlotte beat UTSA 10-5 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 5, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Mason Lytle had two hits in four at bats to extend his batting streak to 16 games. – Photo by Joe Alexander

As it turned out, the play may have been the last consequential break for the Roadrunners all night. The 49ers scored four runs off Orloski in their next turn, with the big blow coming on a two-out, bases-loaded triple by freshman Reid Haire.

Momentarily, while Haire’s batted ball sailed deep into the outfield, it seemed that UTSA centerfielder Mason Lytle might catch it. But on its descent, it veered away from Lytle, possibly because of a swirling wind, and bounced off the wall. Lytle, back-tracking, hit the wall, too. In the aftermath, Brandon Stahlman, Noah Furcht and Carson Bayne all scored to make it a 4-2 ballgame.

The 49ers added another run in the fourth, chasing Orloski (3-3) to the showers after 3 and 2/3 innings. Though the freshman righthander from Idaho had his moments, striking out six, he also gave up five runs on seven hits and took the loss. Meanwhile, Charlotte starter Cole Reynolds (4-3) settled in and completed five innings for the victory.

Reynolds, a lefty, was far from dominant. He struck out only two and walked three, but he limited UTSA to four hits, keeping batters off balance by changing speeds and throwing what looked like a sinker that veered in on the hands of left-handed batters and away from the righthanders.

AJ Wilson, another lefty, replaced Reynolds to open the sixth inning and dialed up much the same formula for success. The Roadrunners didn’t hit many balls hard off either pitcher. On top of that, the 49ers were making seemingly all the plays in the field. One that stood out was a play by rightfielder Johnny Sutryk in the bottom of the third.

With a UTSA baserunner at first and nobody out, Mason Lytle doubled into the right field corner. Sutryk came up throwing and fired all the way to third, where Stahlman slapped the tag on a sliding Hector Rodriguez for the out.

A scary moment

Trailing by six runs, the Roadrunners scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it an 8-4 game. But on the last play of the inning, a delayed steal that brought in a runner from third base, UTSA’s Tye Odom went down with an injury.

The play started with Lytle at third and Odom at first. Then, a pitch was delivered to the catcher. After running half-way to second base and drawing a throw from the catcher to the shortstop covering second, Odom stopped and back-tracked, with the 49ers trying to catch him between the bases before Lytle crossed home.

But after Lytle raced home and scored, 49ers shortstop Dante DeFranco tossed to the first baseman.

With Odom trying to scramble back to first base, he seemed to stumble, with one of his legs buckling under him momentarily. After getting tagged out, Odom stayed down, as both a UTSA trainer and the head coach ran to his side. He was helped off the field — at least part of the way — by a couple of teammates. As he neared the dugout, he put weight on the injured leg and attempted to walk in with his teammates still at his side.

No word yet on the extent of the injury.

Tye Odom. Charlotte beat UTSA 10-5 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 5, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Tye Odom produced a hit in four at bats but had to leave the game in the seventh inning with an injury. Odom ranks as one of the team’s best in batting average. He entered the game hitting .357 – Photo by Joe Alexander

Jenkins, Coleman return to UTSA women’s basketball for 2024-25

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Forwards Jordyn Jenkins and Elyssa Coleman will return to play for a resurgent UTSA women’s basketball team next season, coach Karen Aston said.

Both players opted into the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes whose careers were affected by the Covid pandemic, which wiped out the 2019-20 NCAA postseason in both men’s and women’s basketball.

“I’m so excited that these two young women have the desire and commitment to stay at UTSA and help to continue to move the needle,” Aston said in a UTSA news release.

Jenkins averaged 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 12 games after returning from a 10-month knee injury rehabilitation. She also shot 47.9 percent from the field.

Jenkins played two seasons at Southern Cal before transferring. The 6-footer from Kent, Wash., became an all-Pac 12 player at USC as a sophomore in 2021-22. In 22-’23, she averaged 20.6 points in her first year with the Roadrunners and was named Conference USA Player of the Year.

Coleman spent one season at the University of Texas in ’20-21 but did not play because of an injury. Opting to leave the Longhorns, the 6-foot-3 post from the Houston area has been a fixture with the Roadrunners for the past three seasons.

Last season, she averaged 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and had 45 blocked shots in 32 games.

UTSA women’s basketball has enjoyed a renaissance over the past three seasons. In the year before Aston’s arrival, the Roadrunners finished 2-18 and 0-14 in Conference USA. With Aston at the helm, the team improved to finish 7-23, 13-19 and 18-15 over the next three seasons.

Last season, the Roadrunners ended a drought of eight years with losing records. After securing the No. 4 seed in the American Athletic Conference postseason tournament, they won a game and then lost in the semifinals.

But with the winning record, they reached the national postseason for the first time since 2009 by accepting a berth in the WNIT. When they defeated Northern Colorado in the WNIT first round, it was the first postseason victory in program history.

UTSA bowed out in the WNIT’s second round with a loss at Wyoming.

Baseball: First-place Roadrunners to host the always-dangerous Charlotte 49ers

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Mason Lytle. UTSA lost to UT-Arlington 10-9 in the Roadrunners' baseball season opener on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Mason Lytle (No. 3) leads the American Athletic Conference in hitting at .405 entering a series against Charlotte tonight at Roadrunner Field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In a development that should be welcomed by fans of the UTSA Roadrunners, slugging outfielder Cam Fisher is playing professional baseball this spring.

As the 131st pick in the draft last summer, he is now toiling in the Houston Astros’ organization, preparing to suit up in the coming days for the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists in the High-A South Atlantic League.

Last year, Fisher put on a power show for the ages with the Charlotte 49ers, slamming 30 home runs, all while leading his collegiate team to the Conference USA postseason title and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

His performance comes to mind today as the 49ers prepare to open a three-game series in San Antonio at Roadrunner Field.

Last year, Coach Robert Woodard’s team emerged as one of only a few to gain the upper hand on UTSA in head-to-head matchups. Charlotte won two of three against UTSA, splitting two in the regular season and then claiming an 11-2 victory on May 25 in Houston at the C-USA tournament.

It was a crushing season-ending loss for the Roadrunners, who had won 38 games and finished second in conference, only to bow out of the double-elimination tournament at 0-2.

The 49ers, who also had lost on opening day, used it as a springboard to win five straight in four days en route to claiming the C-USA postseason crown and the NCAA automatic bid.

A year later, the two teams meet again. The Roadrunners will host the 49ers in an American Athletic Conference series opener that starts at 6 tonight. Tomorrow, they’ll play at 2 p.m., followed by a Sunday matinee that will get underway at noon.

I didn’t get a chance to chat with any of the Roadrunners this week, but I doubt that the last game of last season is at the top of anyone’s mind right now.

In fact, Matt King and Caleb Hill are probably going to be the only two position players on the field for UTSA tonight who also started in the field against Charlotte last May in Houston, at Reckling Park.

But most interesting, to me, is the contrast in what is happening with the two ball clubs right now, balanced against their recent history.

From the historical perspective, Charlotte has the edge, with two NCAA tournament appearances (2021 and 2023) in the past four seasons. UTSA, meanwhile, hasn’t had an NCAA trip in 11 years.

Under Coach Pat Hallmark, the Roadrunners have won 38 games in each of the past two seasons, only to come up short of the national tournament each time.

Now, here we are, with the 49ers incoming.

In the here and now, the Roadrunners are rolling, having won six games in a row and seven of eight, including a two-of-three series victory at home over powerhouse East Carolina and a three-game road sweep last week at Tulane.

UTSA (17-12, 5-1) shares the lead in the American with Wichita State, while Charlotte (13-16, 3-3) is showing signs of progress but hasn’t quite put it all together just yet. Even though the 49ers won two of three at home last week against the South Florida Bulls, their record over the past months indicates some unresolved issues.

For Charlotte, a six-game losing streak replete with problems in scoring runs ended only on March 24 with a 13-1 road win at Florida Atlantic.

At the same time, even without a Cam Fisher, an Austin Knight, a Jack Dragum or any of the other departed standouts that made the 49ers so dangerous last season, I have a feeling that they will show up at Roadrunner Field tonight ready to play and do damage.

My forecast? I don’t know who will win the series, but I do have a feeling that a highly-competitive three days of college baseball is looming.

Coming up

Tonight: Charlotte at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday: Charlotte at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday: Charlotte at UTSA, noon

Records

Charlotte 13-16, 3-3
UTSA 17-12, 5-1

UTSA rallies past UIW, 7-4, extends winning streak to six

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners extended their winning streak to a season-high six games Tuesday afternoon with a 7-4 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals.

Within the six-game streak, the Roadrunners have played their last five games on the road and have won them all.

The Cardinals, playing at home at Sullivan Field on a sunny afternoon, took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Roadrunners starter Fischer Kingsbery. Dalton Beck’s RBI single brought in the first run, and Ryan Scott followed with a two-run homer off the foul pole in right field.

The Roadrunners came alive with five runs in the fourth. First, Tye Odom ripped a two-run double. Then, Broc Parmer added an RBI single. Mason Lytle capped the uprising with a two-run single to right for a 5-3 lead.

Lytle went two for five to extend his batting streak to 15 games.

UTSA hasn’t lost since March 23 in a 14-10 setback at home to the then 10th-ranked East Carolina Pirates. Since then, the Roadrunners closed out an American Athletic Conference home series with a 6-5 victory over the Pirates.

A few days later, they started their road trek, winning 9-7 at Baylor, followed by a three-game AAC sweep at Tulane.

The Roadrunners won 6-3, 11-7 and 12-6 in New Orleans for their first sweep of a conference series on the road since the 2015 season.

Records

UTSA 17-12
Incarnate Word 15-12

Coming up

(AAC) Charlotte at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
(AAC) Charlotte at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
(AAC) Charlotte at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.

Notable

Utility man Isaiah Walker, considered one of the ball club’s best players, played in a game for the first time since the second day of the regular season. Walker started at second base and went one for three at the plate. He last played on Feb. 17 at home against UT Arlington when he suffered a hamstring injury.

UTSA wins 12-6 to sweep three games from Tulane on the road

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Red-hot Mason Lytle homered in his fourth straight three-hit performance Sunday afternoon as the UTSA Roadrunners recorded an American Athletic Conference series sweep on the road with a 12-6 victory over the Tulane Green Wave.

Playing their inaugural season as members of the American, the Roadrunners took three games in three days against the Green Wave and moved into a tie for first with the Wichita State Shockers.

Records

UTSA 16-12, 5-1
Tulane 15-13, 2-4

Coming up

UTSA at Incarnate Word, Tuesday, 2 p.m.

Notable

For UTSA, the road sweep was the program’s first in conference play since March of 2015 at Marshall. In addition, the victory was UTSA’s fifth straight, a season high.

Lytle continued his hot hitting with a three-for-five day. The junior from Pearland High School, a transfer from Oregon, hit safely in his 14th straight game. In that span, Lytle has 32 hits in 67 at bats for a .477 average.

In a streak within a streak, he also has recorded multiple hits in 11 straight games, including four straight with three hits. For the season, Lytle’s batting average is listed at .405. He entered the day leading the American in that category.

In the series finale, Hector Rodriguez and Caleb Hill also produced big numbers at the plate. Rodriguez had three hits and three RBIs. Hill had two hits and two RBIs.

Lytle’s homer came in the fourth inning, a three-run shot that he pulled to left field. The blast lifted the Roadrunners into a 6-2 lead.

Starting pitcher Ulises Quiroga (2-0) set a career-high by working seven innings. The righthander from Baytown allowed two runs on four hits. Quiroga walked three and struck out five.

UTSA clinches its first AAC road series with an 11-7 victory over Tulane

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners scored four runs in the top of the first inning Friday night and cruised to their fourth straight win, an 11-7 road victory over the Tulane Green Wave.

With the win, the Roadrunners also clinched their first road series in the American Athletic Conference. UTSA has won two straight games in the past two nights at Tulane, in New Orleans, going into Saturday’s series finale.

UTSA, breaking out with 17 hits, won the game with offense. But the defense played well, committing only one error, and the pitching with Zach Royse and Daniel Garza seemed to get tough when it counted.

Garza (2-1) earned the victory by pitching 5 and 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits and struck out seven. Garza shut out Tulane in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

On offense, Tye Odom produced four hits and three RBIs. Mayson Lytle had three hits in extending his streak with at least one hit to 13 games, during which he has produced a .468 batting average. He has had multiple hits in his last 10 games.

Records

UTSA 15-12, 4-1
Tulane 15-12, 2-3

Coming up

UTSA at Tulane, Saturday, noon.

Notable

UTSA strung together five straight hits and scored four runs in the first inning off Tulane righthander Chandler Welch. With one out, Mason Lytle singled to left, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.

Alex Olivo followed with a long fly ball, a single, that was dropped at the wall. Since Lytle couldn’t risk running full speed, he stopped at second. At that point, UTSA started to play aggressively, executing a hit and run with Matt King, who laced an RBI single to center.

On the next play, with runners at first and second, Tulane caught a break when James Taussig’s hot shot to the right side hit King on the foot. As a baserunner, King was out automatically and Taussig was on first with a single.

From there, the Roadrunners exploded, with Tye Odom smashing a long fly ball that got over the center fielder’s head for a two-run triple. On the play, a relay throw was wild and skipped into the Tulane dugout. Odom was awarded an extra base, and he scored to make it 4-0.