Monthly Archives: May 2022

Marshall wins 9-6 to stall UTSA’s charge up the C-USA standings

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UTSA's Chase Keng hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Marshall beat UTSA 9-6 in Conference USA baseball on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Chase Keng belted a three-run homer in the sixth inning, boosting his team-leading RBI total to 50 on the season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Marshall Thundering Herd built an eight-run lead in the early going Saturday and then held off UTSA, 9-6, in Conference USA baseball at Roadrunner Field.

In winning, the Herd evened a three-game series at one win apiece, kept alive their hopes for a C-USA tournament bid and stalled the Roadrunners’ charge toward the top of the standings.

Southern Miss leads the conference by two games over both UTSA and Louisiana Tech and by three over fourth-place Florida Atlantic. The UAB Blazers hold eighth place and the last playoff spot, two games ahead of Marshall.

Everyone has seven games to play in the regular season, with UTSA set to play Marshall at home on Sunday, followed by three at seventh-ranked Southern Miss next weekend and then three more at home against UAB from May 19-21.

On a hot Saturday in San Antonio, with temperatures in the 90s, UTSA arrived at Roadrunner Field 18-5 in its last 23 games and 13-3 in its last 16 in the conference. Marshall had struggled with an under .500 record for most of the season.

But the Herd, undeterred, broke loose with a big game on offense, collecting 13 hits, including six for extra bases. Leadoff man Travis Sankovich was a pain all day, stroking four hits.

In addition, both Kyle Schaefer and Geordon Blandon hit home runs off UTSA ace Luke Malone, who lasted only 3 and 1/3 innings and took the loss. Malone (7-2) gave up five runs on seven hits. Patrick Copen (3-3) pitched six innings and emerged as the winner.

He left the game with the Herd leading 9-4 and likely felt some anxiety down the stretch as the Roadrunners chipped away at the lead.

UTSA scored three runs in the sixth, one in the seventh and one in the eighth. In the ninth, Marshall’s Ryan Capuano retired three straight to complete a two-inning save.

Chase Keng and Sammy Diaz homered for the Roadrunners.

Records

UTSA 31-16, 15-8
Marshall 20-25-1, 9-14

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 17-6
LA Tech 15-8
UTSA 15-8
FAU 14-9

Coming up

Sunday — Marshall at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

Notable

In other games involving C-USA leaders Saturday, the first-place Southern Miss Golden Eagles stumbled at home for the second day in a row. The Old Dominion Monarchs claimed a 4-3 victory over the Eagles in Hattiesburg. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs made up some ground with an 11-6 victory at home over the FAU Owls.

Second-place UTSA wins to tighten the C-USA baseball race

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Josh Killeen’s three-run double highlighted a four-run second inning, and the UTSA Roadrunners bounced back from two straight losses with a 6-3 victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd Friday night to stoke their Conference USA title hopes.

Ian Bailey added a solo home run in the third inning for the Roadrunners, who picked up a game in the C-USA race and moved to within two games of first place with eight to play. After Friday’s games, Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana Tech are 1-2-3 in the standings.

The Roadrunners arrived at the ball park having lost two straight, falling 2-1 at Middle Tennessee last Sunday and then returning home, only to get blown out 12-1 on Tuesday in a non-conference game against UT-Rio Grande Valley.

In the opener of a C-USA series against Marshall, they built an early lead and then tacked on a run in the eighth to make it 6-2. But in the top of the ninth, the Thundering Herd rallied, loading the bases with no outs against freshman Braylon Owens.

Simon Miller replace Owens to try and put an end to the uprising. Miller yielded an RBI single by Luke Edwards, pulling the Herd to within 6-3. At that point, he responded by striking out Ryan Leitch and Kyle Schaefer. Christian Lucio flied out to center to end the game.

With the win, UTSA improved to 18-5 in its last 23 games and to 13-3 in its last 16 in conference.

Records

UTSA 31-15, 15-7
Marshall 19-25-1, 8-14

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 17-5
UTSA 15-7
Louisiana Tech 14-8
Florida Atlantic 14-8

Coming up

Saturday — Marshall at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday — Marshall at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

How it happened

First, the Florida Atlantic Owls completed a 10-2 victory over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Ruston. Then, the Old Dominion Monarchs knocked off the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 4-1, in Hattiesburg. Those two outcomes set the stage for the Roadrunners to gain ground in the C-USA race.

UT-Rio Grande Valley hits six homers and downs UTSA, 12-1

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The UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros came into San Antonio on Tuesday evening ranked inconspicuously at No. 139 on the NCAA baseball ratings percentage index.

But with Bryan Sturges hitting two of the visitors’ six home runs, and with J.C. Ariza pitching six scoreless innings, the Vaqueros proved to be much better than the RPI indicated, routing the No. 44 UTSA Roadrunners, 12-1.

For Sturges, it was a sweet homecoming of sorts. He played in 73 games at UTSA over two seasons from 2019 to 2020. Sturges, from Houston Seven Lakes, played at Texas A&M last season. Against the Roadrunners, he went three for four and drove in four runs.

Ariza, a 6-foot-5 righthander from Belleville, N.J., allowed only two hits. He walked one and struck out five.

Sturges hit his first homer in the fourth inning, a two-run shot, and he added a solo blast in the ninth. It was one of three Vaqueros home runs in the inning.

Brandon Pimentel, Chris Mondesi, Jacob Sanchez and Isaac Lopez also homered for the Vaqueros, a Western Athletic Conference team based in Edinburg, Texas.

Coming off a Conference USA weekend road trip to Middle Tennnessee, the Roadrunners couldn’t get the bats going.

They managed only four hits on the night and avoided getting shut out when Jonathan Tapia hit an RBI double down the line in the eighth inning.

The Vaqueros exploded in the ninth for five runs on homers by Sanchez, Sturges and Lopez. The blow by Lopez off Reese Easterling was a three-run shot and accounted for the final score.

UTSA’s last two games have been something of a mystery.

Going into Sunday at Middle Tennesee, they had won 17 out of 20, a stretch in which they scored 195 runs on a .324 batting average. In losing Sunday and again on Tuesday, they have been limited to two runs while hitting just .131.

Records

UTSA 30-15, 14-7 in Conference USA
UT-Rio Grande Valley 27-18, 12-9 in the Western Athletic Conference

Coming up

A three-game, C-USA series
Friday — Marshall at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — Marshall at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday — Marshall at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

Middle Tennessee pitching cools off UTSA in 2-1 victory

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Pitchers Jaden Hamm and Trent Seibert combined to shut down one of the most explosive offenses in Conference USA on Sunday afternoon in leading the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders to a 2-1 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

UTSA was 26 for 79 at the plate and had scored 25 runs in winning the first two games of a C-USA series in Murfreesboro, Tenn. In response, Hamm and Seibert held the Roadrunners to 4 for 29 at bat and nearly combined for a shutout.

For the Roadrunners, their only run came in the top of the eighth when a Sammy Diaz sacrifice fly scored Jonathan Tapia from third.

With the score tied, the Blue Raiders broke through against Roadrunners’ reliever Ryan Beaird in the bottom half. Eston Snider singled and stole second and then scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single by Brian Dillingham.

The Roadrunners arrived at the ball park riding a six-game winning streak. They had won 17 of 20 games in one of their best stretches since they joined the C-USA in 2014. In seven previous games since April 19, they had scored in double figures five times.

In their last six games, they had belted 11 home runs.

Nonetheless, they couldn’t figure out Hamm, a 6-1 sophomore righthander from Columbia, Tennessee. Hamm, the starting pitcher, worked seven scoreless innings, allowed only three hits and struck out nine.

Even though the Roadrunners have won 17 of their last 21 games, the loss to the Blue Raiders dropped them in the C-USA standings back into a tie for second place. Southern Miss leads at 17-4, with UTSA and Louisiana Tech tied for second at 14-7.

Records

Middle Tennessee 22-19, 12-9
UTSA 30-14, 14-7

Coming up

Tuesday — UT-Rio Grande Valley at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Friday — Marshall at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — Marshall at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday — Marshall at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 17-4
UTSA 14-7
Louisiana Tech 14-7
Florida Atlantic 13-8
Middle Tennessee 12-9
Old Dominion 11-10
Charlotte 11-10
UAB 10-11

Notable

The Roadrunners are in reach of a school record for C-USA victories in one season. UTSA joined the C-USA in 2014. Its best finish came in 2015 when it finished 17-13. UTSA won 16 in both 2014 and 2018. The Roadrunners have three, three-game series remaining — against Marshall (at home), Southern Miss (on the road) and UAB (at home).