Monthly Archives: March 2025

Competitive juices will flow as UTSA hosts Texas State in baseball on Tuesday night

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With the Texas State Bobcats set to travel to San Antonio for a meeting with the UTSA Roadrunners in baseball on Tuesday night, I knew I needed to conduct an archive search of news coverage from the last time the two old rivals played.

In the archives of The JB Replay, I found a video image that pretty much tells the story of how passionate this series has become.

It was a video (see the image above) that I shot at the end of UTSA’s 11-9 victory over Texas State at Roadrunner Field last April.

The clip shows UTSA pitcher Fischer Kingsbery, firing what appears to be a high fastball and fanning Texas State slugger August Ramirez for the last out.

As Ramirez swings and misses, the UTSA fans erupt in cheers. Kingsbery then does a spin move on the mound and pumps his fist. Suddenly, he rips the glove off his left hand and fires it at the feet of Roadrunners players streaming out of the dugout to congratulate him.

Asked immediately after the game about the show of emotion, UTSA pitcher Braylon Owens was quoted as saying, “Battle of I-35. I mean, they were chirping us. Like, their fans, they chirped us pretty good when we played at their place. We were just excited to beat ’em here.”

Almost a year has passed since that moment unfolded.

Kingsbery and Ramirez have since moved on in their baseball careers, so they won’t be on the field Tuesday night. Owens is still pitching for the Roadrunners and is pitching extremely well, but since he worked 10 innings last week, he probably won’t get into the game this time.

All that aside, it’s almost certain that fans from both schools will fill the grandstands and a highly-competitive game will break out in the 104th incarnation of the series. Texas State leads it 63-40, but the teams have split the last six meetings.

Some of those games, as the record shows, have been crazy. In 2022, for instance, the Bobcats won 14-12 in San Marcos. Seven days later, the Roadrunners flipped the script and rolled, 14-8, in San Antonio.

Last season, home runs were flying out of the park in all directions, and the Bobcats held on to win 14-13 in San Marcos, which likely explains all the emotion of the Roadrunners’ 11-9 win in the rematch.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark suggested on his Monday morning zoom conference that the high scores and wild swings in momentum in recent games can be attributed to the timing of the games between programs that play in different conferences.

With Texas State in the Sun Belt and UTSA having recently moved from Conference USA to the American, the games between the two programs separated by about 50 miles of I-35 freeway have fallen during the middle of the week.

“You’re playing a Tuesday mid-week game (and) both of us are coming off of conference weekends,” Hallmark said. “(With) three games on the weekend, you’re using a lot of front-line pitching … In other words, you’re not going to save anybody for a Tuesday game when you’re in conference.”

Consequently, Texas State and UTSA hitters in recent times might have been a little more productive in the non-conference rivalry game after seeing higher quality stuff on the weekends.

“That might be what it is,” Hallmark said. “Whether you hit a little more, or you see some more base on balls … the free pass sometimes equates into runs. Hopefully, tomorrow, we can counter some of that and at least on our end, put up some zeroes.”

Recent games at Bobcat Ballpark or at Roadrunner Field have been emotional.

It’s only natural as players often times know each other from high school competition. They know each other from summer ball. The fans from both schools show up to sit in the grandstands where school pride and good-natured smack talk, as Owens suggested last April, tends to spice the atmosphere.

Such was the case last April when Texas State fans appeared to make up at least a quarter of the more than 1,000 in attendance jammed the modest Roadrunner Field. Hallmark, from his perspective, said he tries not to let it affect him as he manages the game.

“I don’t pay too much attention to it,” he said. “I got other stuff that I need to focus on. So, whether we’re at Disch-Falk Field (in Austin) or at our own ball park, I’m pretty absorbed and try to stay absorbed in the moment, and what I need to do to help us win.”

Even if coaches in both dugouts can block out all the noise, though, they likely can’t help get a little worked up when a four- or five-run lead dissolves in a matter of minutes and the crowd noise spikes.

This morning, I suggested on the zoom conference with coach Hallmark that these games with the Bobcats are a thrill for the fans. But for the coaches, they must get a little hairy as they attempt to make decisions during big rallies one way or the other.

“You sound like my dad,” Hallmark said, agreeing with the premise. “At the end of a game, it’s 14-12. He’s all jazzed up, and I’m tired. But, yeah, I think the fans like the run production.”

Records

Texas State 11-12
UTSA 19-7

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Baseball: Roadrunners win a road series in Charlotte to start conference play

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners capped a strong week of play on Sunday with a 6-5 victory on the road against the Charlotte 49ers.

Playing four road games in the past six days, they won three of them, including an 8-7 victory in 12 innings last Tuesday over the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns. They followed it up by winning two of three in Charlotte against the 49ers.

Charlotte started off strong in the first American Athletic Conference series of the season for both teams, winning 3-2 on Friday night.

Unfazed, UTSA pounded out 14 hits in a 10-3 victory on Saturday and then closed it out Sunday behind the hitting of Mason Lytle and James Taussig and the late-game, clutch pitching from Rob Orloski.

Lytle hit a two-run homer in a three-run fourth inning as the Roadrunners took the lead, 5-2. The 49ers, who have beaten the Roadrunners in conference tournament play in each of the past two seasons, kept chipping away and stayed in it until the end.

They scored two runs in the fifth inning and then added one in the eighth to tie the game when Orloski yielded a one-out, solo home run by Noah Furcht. Orloski, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Idaho, steadied himself and retired the next two batters to prevent further damage.

In the ninth, the Roadrunners took the lead for good. James Taussig rocketed a ball to the opposite field, into the left-center gap, for an RBI double. Caden Miller, who was running on the pitch, scored easily to make it 6-5.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark stayed with Orloski in the bottom half of the ninth, and the strategy paid off. The big righthander retired three straight batters to pick up the victory.

With the win, the 2023 draft pick of the Boston Red Sox improved his record to 7-0 on the season. Coming into the game in the fifth inning to relieve starter Conor Myles, Orloski battled through some control problems to finish the game.

In 4 and 2/3 innings, he yielded one run on one hit and four walks. Orloski struck out two.

Records

UTSA 19-7, 2-1
Charlotte 11-11, 1-2

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Notable

In three games at Charlotte, UTSA’s Mason Lytle was tough at the plate, stroking seven hits in 15 at bats with two home runs. He had an inside-the-park homer on Friday night and then jerked one over the left field wall in Sunday’s finale for his fourth of the season. UTSA defense also showed up, committing only one error in 27 innings in the AAC series.

Baseball: Stucky, Detlefsen power UTSA past Charlotte, 10-3

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Bouncing back from a series-opening loss, the UTSA Roadrunners homered twice in a six-run third inning and downed the Charlotte 49ers 10-3 Saturday afternoon.

UTSA unleashed a 14-hit attack to back Braylon Owens’ pitching, winning its 18th game of the season and its second on the road this week.

Charlotte won a pitchers’ duel, 3-2, on Friday in the first game of American Athletic Conference play for both teams. The Roadrunners didn’t waste any time taking command of Game 2 in the three-game series. They scored three runs in the top of the first and added six more in the third.

Ty Hodge led off the third with a single to left, and Andrew Stucky followed with a two-run homer on the last pitch of the day thrown by Charlotte starter Andrew Kribbs. It was Stucky’s third home run in as many games this week.

With two outs in the inning, Detlefsen powered a ball out of the park off reliever Ed Wagner for a grand slam and a 9-0 lead.

Owens, who earned the victory at Texas in relief, worked eight innings against Charlotte, improving to 2-0 on the week and to 4-1 on the season. Owens allowed two runs on seven hits. Throwing 107 pitches, he walked only one and struck out seven.

Kribbs was charged with the loss and dropped to 1-1 on the year.

Records

UTSA 18-7, 1-1
Charlotte 11-10, 1-1

Coming up

UTSA at Charlotte, Sunday, noon

Notable

Andrew Stucky is on a roll. He hit a solo home run to decide an 8-7 victory in 12 innings against Texas on Tuesday in Austin. Stucky hit another one Friday night in a 3-2 loss to Charlotte. Continuing the trend, he added his third round tripper of the week and his fourth of the season to spark a six-run inning Saturday.

Charlotte righthander Blake Gillespie shut down UTSA on Friday night. He struck out 13 in eight innings while allowing two runs on five hits. Cody Gunderson stroked four hits and homered for the 49ers. For UTSA, starter Zach Royse struck out nine in seven innings. Royse yielded three runs — two of them earned — and five hits while walking only one.

Roadrunners speedster Mason Lytle tied the game 2-2 in the top of the sixth with an inside-the-park home run. He lashed a ground ball to the right side, with the ball kicking off the second baseman’s glove. Charlotte’s right fielder, caught out of position, watched the ball roll past him and into deep right field as Lytle raced around and slid in head first for the homer. Gunderson broke the tie with a solo homer in the bottom half.

Gonzaga ends UTSA’s season with a 67-51 victory in the WBIT first round

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA’s best season in 16 years came to an end Thursday night in Spokane, Wash. Employing a stifling defense and riding the offense of fifth-year senior forward Yvonne Ejim, the home team Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the Roadrunners 67-51 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

The Roadrunners kept the crowd at the McCarthey Athletic Center quiet for only the first few minutes of the game, hitting three 3-point shots in the first five minutes and forging a 17-11 lead. After that, it was pretty much all Gonzaga the rest of the way.

Ejim, from Alberta, Canada, showed off skills on both ends of the court. Not only did she help defend UTSA standout Jordyn Jenkins on one end, she also hit 10 of 15 shots and scored 24 points on the other. Under the boards, she proved to be equally relentless, pulling down a game-high 16 rebounds.

Jenkins, the Player of the Year in the American Athletic Conference, had 14 points and eight rebounds in her last game for the Roadrunners. Defended and sometimes doubled with taller players, the 6-foot redshirt senior from Renton, Wash., couldn’t get much going, finishing four of 13 from the field.

As a team, UTSA didn’t have much spark on the offensive end. The Roadrunners shot 31 percent from the field, including 27 percent in the second half. The 51 points matched the team’s effort in a 55-51 loss on opening day at Texas A&M as the lowest output of the season.

“I just thought they were a lot better than we were today,” UTSA coach Karen Aston told Neal Raphael on the team’s radio broadcast. “I thought they were tougher. Obviously their best player played really, really well and showed why she’s who she is. You know, we just didn’t have the toughness that it took to come in here and win a game on the road.

“They shot the ball really well. We had to be really, really good today to beat them on their home court and we just weren’t. I thought we hung in there as long as we could and we just couldn’t make shots. We didn’t have enough people to make shots. That’s totally what it boiled down to.”

With the victory, the 23-10 Bulldogs will move on to face the Colorado Buffaloes in the WBIT’s second round on Sunday. The loss, meanwhile, will send UTSA home with a final record of 26-5. The team won the AAC regular-season title with a 17-1 record, established a program best with 26 victories and went 13-0 at home in the Convocation Center.

Perhaps the only season in the history of women’s basketball at the school that might rival this one would be 2008-09, when the Rae Rippetoe-Blair coached Roadrunners went 24-9, won the Southland Conference title and reached the NCAA tournament, losing by five on the road in the first round to the No. 2 seed Baylor Bears.

“We had a great year,” Aston said. “Super proud of ’em. For lack of a better word, we just ran out of gas.”

Speaking on the last postgame radio broadcast of the season, Aston thanked the fans for turning out and supporting the team. The regular-season finale on March 1 set a school record with 2,500 fans on a day when the Roadrunners clinched the AAC regular-season crown outright and cut down the nets.

“It’s been a special ride,” the coach said. “I appreciate everybody that’s been a part of it. You always hate for a season to end. But I’m extremely proud of how we played.”

Records

UTSA 26-5
Gonzaga 23-10

Notable

UTSA played without guard Aysia Proctor, a key contributor in the Roadrunners’ drive to the AAC title. Proctor, a sophomore from Clemens, averaged 4.5 points in 20 minutes per game off the bench this season. Meanwhile, for Gonzaga, the season continues Sunday with a second-round meeting against the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado advanced with a 73-41 victory over Southeastern Louisiana.

Individuals

UTSA – Outside of Jenkins, guard Sidney Love emerged as the only other player who made much of an impact on the offensive end. Love produced 15 points, three rebounds and two assists. Love hit five of 12 shots from the field and five of seven at the line. Forward Idara Udo started off well, scoring seven in the first half. But after intermission, she didn’t score, getting herself into foul trouble and later fouling out. Nina De Leon Negron, the Newcomer of the Year in the AAC, had five points and four rebounds in her last game at UTSA.

Gonzaga – Yvonne Ejim was the story for the Bulldogs. Outside of her 24 points and 16 rebounds, she also played the passing lanes and picked up seven steals. A few of her teammates also chipped in with major contributions. Guard Allie Turner scored 13 points and knocked down three 3-point shots. With her long-range shooting, Turner became the school’s single-season leader with 98. Maud Huijbens, a 6-foot-3 post player, had 11 points, three rebounds and two steals. Ejim’s 10 of 15 shooting from the floor allowed Gonzaga to hit 45.5 percent for the game.

First half

After a slow start, Bulldogs rolled to a 36-27 halftime lead.

Ejim, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, scored 17 points to lead the Zags. On the last play of the half, she stole the ball under the UTSA basket, broke out on the dribble and went all the way to the other end, Euro-stepping her way to a driving layup at the buzzer.

Ejim finished the half shooting seven of eight from the field. The Zags, as a team, shot 51.9 percent. After the opening five minutes, the Roadrunners’ offense scuffled. At the end of the first quarter, in the face of a tricky halfcourt trap, they turned it over five straight times.

As a result, the Zags scored 12 straight points to the end of the period, pushing out to a 23-17 advantage.

Idara Udo scored seven points in the half for the Roadrunners, and star forward Jordyn Jenkins had six. Gonzaga held Jenkins to two of seven shooting. The Roadrunners shot only 35.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

UTSA’s Sidney Love on the WBIT: ‘We want to keep winning for ourselves’

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

If the UTSA Roadrunners want to prove a point that they deserved to play at home in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, they will get the opportunity to do so tonight when they take the floor in Spokane, Wash., against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

But as far as Roadrunners guard Sidney Love is concerned, she just wants to win to extend the time she can spend with her teammates.

“We want to keep winning for ourselves,” the former Steele High School standout said. “We’re not really worried about anybody else. Winning is a good feeling, especially with this group that we’ve got.

“We’ve got seniors we want to play for. We’ve got coaches that we want to play for. Everybody’s bought into each other. So, that’s the motivation.”

The Roadrunners (26-4) have experienced an emotional whirlwind in the past 20 days.

On the first day of March, they clinched the American Athletic Conference regular season championship outright, securing the title by beating Florida Atlantic at home and then celebrating it by cutting down the nets at the Convocation Center.

In their regular-season finale on March 4, they journeyed on the road and walloped the East Carolina Pirates, 67-48, putting an exclamation mark on a 17-1 run through the AAC schedule.

UTSA then opened in the AAC tournament on March 10 in Fort Worth against the Rice Owls. The Owls, seeded ninth in the tournament, stunned the top-seeded Roadrunners, 62-58, throwing their postseason destiny into question.

Last Saturday, they held a practice, and then did so again on Sunday as they prepared to watch the postseason bracket announcements. Deep down, the Roadrunners knew they weren’t likely to get the NCAA tournament invitation, realizing that the second-tier WBIT was their most likely destination.

That is how it played out, though they didn’t get the seeding and the home game that they thought they deserved from officials running the WBIT. Instead, they watched as teams such as Florida (16-17) and Villanova (18-14) were seeded in the bracket and were granted home dates to open the tournament.

In the NCAA’s Evaluation Tool rankings, Florida (50) and Villanova (70) were both ranked higher than UTSA (71). But the Roadrunners finished with a far superior win-loss record.

Moreover, UTSA was ranked higher in the NET than Wyoming (80), and yet Wyoming (at 22-11) is seeded fourth in one of the WBIT bracket quadrants and is hosting tonight against Texas Tech.

In the bracket quadrant that includes UTSA, Colorado (20-12) was the top seed, followed by Minnesota (20-11) at No. 2, Missouri State (25-8) at No. 3 and Gonzaga (22-10) at No. 4. With Gonzaga seeded, it earned the right to host in the first round and drew UTSA, one of four unseeded teams in its quadrant and one of 16 in the 32-team bracket at large.

Fourth-year UTSA coach Karen Aston continued to question earlier this week how the Roadrunners did not get the right to host. She mentioned it Monday and again on Tuesday. At the same time, she said that the opportunity to play in a postseason event for the second straight year is “huge” for her program.

Last year, the Roadrunners played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and went 1-1 to finish the season 18-15. This year, they advanced themselves to the WBIT, with an opportunity to record a 30-win season if they can win four games. If they can win five, they’d win their second title this spring.

“Four years into this, we are two years in a row in the postseason,” Aston said. “I’ve used the word remarkable several times this year, and it truly is. We felt like it was a big step to go to the NIT last year, and we’ve taken another one. This is a very respectable tournament. I’ve talked to several coaches that were in this tournament last year and they said it was fantastic. It was competitive.”

Added the coach: “They felt really privileged to be in it. They were treated with respect. I’m excited for our kids to feel that.”

Sophomore forward Idara Udo said in interviews on campus Tuesday afternoon that the Roadrunners are just hungry to play again.

“Usually when teams get disappointed in their (conference) tournament and stuff like that, some people check out,” Udo said. “Some people have a shift in mentality. But I think one thing that I’m very proud of with this team is just us staying positive and keeping our heads up. Just coming in here hungry and ready to work.”

Should the Roadrunners win on Thursday night, they’d play again on Sunday. They’d play the winner between Colorado or Southeastern Louisiana (26-5). If Colorado wins at home Tuesday night, CU likely would be at home again in Boulder for the second round.

Records

UTSA 26-4
Gonzaga 22-10

WBIT today

First round

Upper left quadrant
North Carolina A&T at (1) Virginia Tech, 5 p.m.
Texas Tech at (4) Wyoming, 7:30 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Northern Illinois at (3) Florida, 6 p.m.
Hawaii at (2) UNLV, 8:30 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Lower left quadrant
UTSA at (4) Gonzaga, 8 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana at (1) Colorado, tonight at 8 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Oral Roberts at (3) Missouri State, 6:30 p.m.
(2) Minnesota at Toledo, 6 p.m., (Minnesota unable to host)
(Winners play Sunday)

Upper right quadrant
Davidson at (1) James Madison, 6 p.m.
Marquette at (2) Drake, 4 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Middle Tennessee at (3) Belmont, 6:30 p.m.
Northern Arizona at (2) Arizona, 8 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Lower right quadrant
Albany at (1) St. Joseph’s (Pa.), 6 p.m.
Boston College at (4) Villanova, 6 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Quinnipiac at (3) Seton Hall, 6 p.m.
Portland at (2) Stanford, 9 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Notable

If Colorado wins tonight, it’s likely that Sunday’s second-round game will be held in Boulder. If UTSA and Southeastern Louisiana both win, then the second round could be played in San Antonio.

UTSA sophomore guard Aysia Proctor did not attend Tuesday’s open workout in San Antonio. A spokesman said after the workout that he wasn’t sure about her status to play against Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs struggled early in the season, losing eight of their first 14 games. Powered by forward Yvonne Ejim, they finished on a 16-1 run to the end of the regular season to tie for first in the West Coast Conference standings with Portland. Both teams had a 17-3 WCC record. Gonzaga, slotted into the WCC tournament semifinals, then lost 63-61 to Oregon State.

For the season, Ejim, a 6-1 forward from Canada who was named as the WCC Player of the Year, averaged 20.6 points ad 8.9 rebounds. Six-foot-three forward Maud Huijbens from The Netherlands is another strong post player for the Bulldogs. She averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 boards.

When teams try to collapse on the Gonzaga posts, guards Allie Turner, Claire O’Connor and Portugal native Ines Bettencourt take advantage with their perimeter shooting. Turner hits 45.7 percent from three, while O’Connor (43.4 percent) and Bettencourt (36.6) can also fill it up from behind the arc. Turner is a playmaker, averaging 13.4 points, while passing for 116 assists.

Baseball: UTSA knocks off eighth-ranked Texas, 8-7, in 12 innings

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Andrew Stucky hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th inning, and Braylon Owens retired three straight batters in the bottom half, as the UTSA Roadrunners upset the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns, 8-7, on a windy Tuesday night in Austin.

Andrew Stucky celebrates at second base after his first-inning double drove in UTSA's first two runs.

Andrew Stucky, shown here in a game from last season, belted a solo home run in the 12th inning Tuesday night to lift UTSA to an 8-7 victory over eighth-ranked Texas. – File photo by Joe Alexander

With the victory, the Roadrunners (17-6) won their third game this month against a prominent in-state college baseball program.

On March 4, they beat the 14th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 7-4, in College Station. Last weekend, they went 1-2 on the road against 20th-ranked Dallas Baptist, winning the middle game of the series, 15-11, on Saturday. They followed by taking down Texas (17-2) for the first time since 2019, snapping the Longhorns 17-game winning streak in the process.

Owens (3-1) emerged as the winning pitcher for the Roadrunners, while former UTSA star Ruger Riojas (5-1) took the loss for the Longhorns.

For UTSA, freshman Caden Miller from Madisonville hit two solo home runs. He led off the game with a solo shot in a two-run first inning to give the Roadrunners early momentum.

Afterward, the Longhorns retaliated, scoring one run in the first on a Max Belyeu solo blast, two in the second and third innings and another one in the fifth on a solo homer by freshman Adrian Rodriguez. When Rodriguez’s home run left the ball park, Texas had seeming control of the proceedings with a 6-2 lead.

In response, UTSA answered with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead. Freshman Nathan Hodge capped the three-run sixth with a double off the glove of third baseman Casey Borba. In the seventh, the left-side hitting Miller started the uprising by pulling a pitch and sending a rocket over the right field wall for one run. The other came home on a throwing error by Borba.

The Longhorns answered in the eighth when junior catcher Rylan Galvan homered. His solo shot off UTSA reliever Kendall Dove landed far beyond the left field wall and tied the game, 7-7.

Drama unfolded in the top of the ninth inning when the Longhorns sent Riojas into the game to pitch to his former teammates. For the last two seasons, the Wimberley native had been a fixture in the UTSA program as one of the Roadrunners’ top arms. Last season, he led UTSA in wins (10), saves (seven) and earned run average (3.25). In the offseason, he entered the transfer portal and elected to move to a higher level to pitch for Texas.

With UTSA in the visitors’ dugout in Texas’ home ballpark and the Longhorns’ 17-game streak on the line, Riojas ended up pitching the last four innings of the game. From the ninth through the 11th, he was brilliant, holding the Roadrunners off the scoreboard in each frame. In the 11th, UTSA had a great chance to win it with runners at second and third base and nobody out. But Riojas retired three straight — the first two on strikeouts — to get out of the jam unscathed.

In the 12th, the Roadrunners finally caught up with him. After he retired brothers Ty Hodge and Nathan Hodge, Stucky stepped up and barreled a ball over the left field wall for the go-ahead run.

UTSA pitching, in turn, was masterful down the stretch. Roadrunners pitchers allowed the Longhorns only one run in the last seven innings of the game. Dove pitched three and two-thirds, giving up only the solo homer in the eighth. Afterward, Zach Royse, Robert Orloski and Owens combined to work the last four innings scoreless.

In the bottom of the 12th, Owens retired Galvan on a ground ball before making a key defensive play. Jaden Duplantier hit a slow roller that Owens fielded cleanly, firing to first for the out. Gasparino, who has a .549 slugging percentage, came to the plate as the Longhorns’ last hope and struck out swinging to end the game..

Interestingly enough, Royse, Orloski and Owens are three fixtures in UTSA’s weekend rotation. Royse and Owens are starters and Orloski is a reliever, the team’s designated stopper with a 6-0 record. Moreover, UTSA’s opening series in the American Athletic Conference is coming up this weekend in Charlotte, N.C. The series against the 49ers starts Friday night.

Records

UTSA 17-6
Texas 17-2

Coming up

UTSA at Charlotte, Friday, 5 p.m.

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UTSA turns up the noise in preparation for a WBIT road test at Gonzaga

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

At times, the piped-in, ear-ringing noise in the Convocation Center Tuesday afternoon made it difficult to think, which was precisely the point that UTSA coach Karen Aston wanted to make.

Jordyn Jenkins. Top-seeded UTSA lost to ninth-seeded Rice 62-58 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday, March 10, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jordyn Jenkins will lead the UTSA Roadrunners into the WBIT against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Aston’s Roadrunners are scheduled to play their first-round game in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament Thursday night on the homecourt of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, one of the noisiest arenas in college basketball.

So, in the last UTSA practice before the team travels to Spokane, Wash., she wanted her players to experience the adversity, speak up and communicate with one another.

They’ll need to do that to win at the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, otherwise known as the “The Kennel.”

Standing on the court at the Convo Tuesday on an otherwise sleepy afternoon on campus, the noise in the old building almost sounded like a construction site. It isn’t the first time Aston has used sound effects to get her players’ attention.

“We have done that periodically throughout the year,” Aston said. “It’s interesting, but I told the group, it’s sort of like a full-circle moment. In our preparation for our first game of the year, we knew it was Education Day at Texas A&M.

“They had about 5,000 screaming kids. So it feels like a full-circle moment. Obviously we hope this is not our last game. We’re not planning on it being, but it kind of felt that way as this is how we started, and here we are again.”

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins said it was fun to run through a practice with the noise cranked up to high levels.

“You know, it was a little different,” she said. “We got to prepare for everything. We have to make sure we’re communicating on the court. So, that was just something to test us a little bit.”

The Roadrunners will be tested in many ways as they enter their second national tournament in the past two seasons. After winning the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference at 17-1, they dropped their opener in the AAC tournament at Fort Worth.

A 62-58 loss to the ninth-seeded Rice Owls in the quarterfinals sent them home much earlier than they wanted. By the weekend, the pain continued as they were left out of the NCAA tournament. On top of that, they didn’t even get the reward of a first-round game in the WBIT, despite a program-best 26-4 record on the season.

“We did have a tough loss, obviously, in the tournament,” Jenkins said. “But, we had a little break and, you know, we think we can make a run in this tournament. It’s just about being together, staying together and realizing that not a lot of teams are playing in March right now. So, we need to be grateful and get this dub (victory).”

Asked what it takes to rebound from disappointment, Jenkins said, “honestly, just a little time.”

“You know, I always say time heals,” she said. “And it really does. I spent a little time at home back in Seattle. It was good to feel the rain and breathe the fresh air before I got back here and got back to work.”

Coincidentally, she returned to San Antonio, only to find out Sunday evening in a team gathering that the Roadrunners would be traveling back to Washington state for their first game. She said her family plans to make the trip. “They already booked their flights,” Jenkins said.

The Roadrunners and the Bulldogs have had similar experiences this season. UTSA has had a 10-game winning streak and had a 19-1 record in their last 20 games leading into the AAC tournament, only to lose their AAC tournament opener. Gonzaga had a 14-game winning streak and had a 16-1 record in their last 17 going into the West Coast tournament, losing its opener to Oregon State.

In addition, while Jenkins tops the Roadrunners in scoring and in several other categories, Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim leads the Bulldogs. Ejim, at 6-foot-1, averages 20.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. Not only is she a 52 percent shooter from the field, she also paces the Bulldogs with 38 steals and 31 blocked shots.

“They’re a post-oriented team, and they’re really good rebounders,” Jenkins said. “So, it’s going to be a fight in the paint.”

Records

UTSA 26-4
Gonzaga 22-10

Coming up

UTSA at Gonzaga, Thursday, 8 p.m., WBIT first round

UTSA’s Aston ‘grateful’ for the opportunity to play in the WBIT

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball coach Karen Aston on Monday acknowledged the disappointment of coming up short in the team’s quest to reach the NCAA tournament, but she said she feels “extremely blessed and pleased we’re still playing.”

Karen Aston. The UTSA women's basketball teams celebrates at the Convocation Center after winning the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Karen Aston Roadrunners will take a 26-4 record into a first-round WBIT game Thursday at Gonzaga. – File photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners will play in the 32-team Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, opening on the road Thursday against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Central time.

It’s the second straight season that the Roadrunners have reached a national postseason tournament after last year’s squad competed in the WNIT.

“The fact that we were able to take another step this year and elevate the tournament that we’re playing in is a huge accomplishment for this program, in a short period of time,” said Aston, who is in her fourth season at UTSA. “So, just thankful (for the opportunity). I could say a lot of things about disappointment (and) all of those things of not making the (NCAA) tournament. But at the end of the day you wake up and you’re grateful for what you have and to still be playing.”

Last year, UTSA played at home in the WNIT’s opening round and knocked off Northern Colorado for the first national tournament victory in school history. The Roadrunners lost in the second round in a road game at Wyoming.

UTSA bid for three home games in this year but was dispatched to play in the state of Washington against the Bulldogs, who were co-champions (at 22-10, 17-3) of the West Coast Conference. In the WBIT, teams were seeded 1-4 in each of four quadrants of the bracket. The Bulldogs drew a No. 4 seed. The Roadrunners (26-4, 17-1) were not seeded after winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season title outright.

Both Gonzaga and UTSA went 0-1 in the respective conference tournaments, with the Bulldogs losing to Oregon State in the WCC semifinals and the Roadrunners falling to Rice in the AAC quarterfinals.

Asked how she felt about being slotted into the WBIT bracket, Aston said, “I feel good about the team. You know, I don’t have any qualms about us going on the road. Obviously, like you said, we went 17-1. We have the ability to have some road toughness about us, or we wouldn’t have accomplished what we did. So I feel very confident in that. You know, very disappointed that we’re not hosting for our players, our staff, all the people that made our home environment really special, that we could go undefeated (at home).

“Not sure I have an answer for why we’re not hosting when you look at four or five teams that are that are that we have a better NET (ranking and) we won our league. But as I told our players, everything doesn’t always end up the way you expect it to or want it to. And you have to respond to that. And that’s a life lesson and a life skill that comes in pretty handy along your way.”

The Roadrunners have experienced two major disappointments over the past week — first, losing in the AAC tournament and then, second, gathering on Sunday to get confirmation that they would not, after all, be playing in the NCAA tournament. Even for a team as talented as the Roadrunners, it may be a challenge for them to re-set and prepare for the WBIT in the wake of all the emotion.

“You have to dig into your competitive juices a little bit,” Aston said. “And I think for our program, every single step that we take — I mean, we got a postseason win last year. This is a very, very competitive tournament. There are multiple teams that should have played in the NCAA that are in this tournament. So there’s a ton that we’re playing for. We’re graduating two players (in Jordyn Jenkins and Nine De Leon Negron). So, what are the rest of them learning in this experience of what it feels like to be continuing to play in March.

“Like I told them, some people are done two weeks ago and (are) on the beach somewhere. For us to understand what it feels like to continue to grind and prepare and take care of your bodies and stay in the gym, like, all of those are learning experiences for young players. And if you’ve got six or seven, or five or six, or whatever we had, who had never even experienced what a Selection Show was, then there’s a lot of learning still ahead for our group.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the start time of UTSA’s game at Gonzaga. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Central time on Thursday.

UTSA women will travel to play Gonzaga in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament

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UTSA will play on the road against the Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday night in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

The NCAA-sponsored tournament is in its second season of existence. Officials announced its 32-team field Sunday night and paired UTSA (26-4) against Gonzaga (22-10) as one of 16 first-round matchups.

The NCAA field of 68 was announced earlier Sunday night. As expected, UTSA did not get an invitation to play in the most prestigious of the tournaments in women’s college basketball. The WBIT is next, followed by the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, or WNIT. UTSA reached the second round of the WNIT last season.

This year, the Roadrunners went 26-3 in the regular season and 17-1 to win the American Athletic Conference, only to fall to the Rice Owls, 62-58, in the first round of the conference tournament.

UTSA likely needed to sweep three games at the AAC tournament to earn a bid into the NCAA field.

Going into its second year, the WBIT is owned and funded by the NCAA, and the first four teams out of the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament — as determined by the DI women’s basketball selection committee — receive an automatic bid into the WBIT and also receive the first four seeds.

Regular-season champions of DI conferences not otherwise selected for the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament also automatically qualify (if eligible and not reclassifying institutions). The remaining field is made up of at-large teams chosen by the WBIT selection committee.

In the WBIT, UTSA will need to win five games to win the title. All first-round games are Thursday night. The second round is a week from today, on March 23, followed by the third round on March 27.

If a team wins three games, it would move on to Indianapolis for the semifinals on March 31. The tournament finals are set for April 2. Semifinals and finals will be played at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus.

Texas sneaks in to the field of 68, joining Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor in the NCAA men’s tournament

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Five teams from the state of Texas have made the 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament field. The biggest surprise was the 15-loss Texas Longhorns, who will play in the Midwest Region in a First Four, or, a round of 68 game, against Xavier (Ohio) on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

The Longhorns (19-15) are one of a record 14 teams from the Southeastern Conference to make the NCAA field.

Xavier (21-11) is a Big East team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, meaning the Musketeers will only need to travel about 48 miles to the game site at the Dayton Arena. The winner will advance to round of 64 on Friday against Illinois in Milwaukee.

Games involving Texas teams on Thursday will be:

*Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Houston (30-4) against SIU Edwardsville (22-11) at Wichita, Kan., in the Midwest region. The winner would get either Gonzaga or Georgia in the Round of 32;
*Texas Tech (25-8) against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (27-7), also at Wichita, in the West. The winner would draw either Missouri or Drake in the Round of 32;
*Texas A&M (22-10) against Drake (22-7) at Denver, in the South. The winner would play either Michigan or UC San Diego in the Round of 32.

Games involving Texas teams on Friday will be:

*Baylor (19-14) against Mississippi State (21-12) at Raleigh, N.C. in the East. The winner would advance to play either top-seeded Duke or 16 seeds American or Mount St. Mary’s.