Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

‘Batman’ powers Stanford past Texas State in NCAA baseball

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Who was that masked man?

Why, it was Stanford University slugger Carter Graham, who celebrated each of his two home runs Sunday night by rounding the bases and then briefly donning a ‘Batman’ mask as he high-fived his way through teammates en route to the team dugout.

The reason for the invocation of the ‘Dark Knight’ into an NCAA tournament game against the Texas State Bobcats wasn’t entirely clear.

But as the game moved along, it became evident that the top-seeded Cardinal were not about to allow the Bobcats to play ‘The Joker’ and eliminate them from the playoffs. Not in an NCAA regional on their home field in Palo Alto, Calif.

Beaten by the second-seeded Bobcats on Saturday night, the Cardinal responded on Sunday by winning twice, once against UC Santa Barbara in the afternoon and then again against the Bobcats on Sunday night, both of them by scores of 8-4.

As a result, they ruined Texas State’s dream of a victory that would have clinched the school’s first title in a four-team NCAA baseball regional. Now, the same two teams will meet again Monday at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond in a winner-take-all for the championship.

The Bobcats raced off to a fast start, with Jose Gonzalez stroking a solo homer in the first inning for an early lead. It was Gonzalez’s third home run in the regional after hitting two in a 5-2 victory over the Cardinal on Saturday.

But Graham, not to be outdone, responded with a soaring two-run blast of his own in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 advantage. He added a three-run shot in the fourth inning, boosting the Cardinal into a 5-2 lead.

After the Bobcats scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to pull within one run, Drew Bowser hit a two-run homer in a three-run seventh, an uprising that seemed to take the starch out of the visitors from San Marcos, Texas.

Stanford’s offense was just too relentless to contain.

Not only did the Cardinal hit the ball over the fence three times, but they also sprayed line-drive singles to the outfield. They even scored on a squeeze bunt single by Adam Crampton that brought a runner in from third.

In all, the Cardinal produced 13 hits to only four for the Bobcats. Stanford pitchers Ty Uber (4-1), Brandt Pancer and Ryan Bruno combined for eight walks and seven strikeouts. Texas State starter Tony Robie (4-1) took the loss.

Robie pitched 4 and 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits. Offensively, the Bobcats were sparked by home runs from both Gonzalez and from San Antonio’s Dalton Shuffield, a senior from Johnson High School.

Records

Texas State 47-13
Stanford 44-15

Coming up

Monday — Stanford regional title game between Texas State and Stanford, 9 p.m.

Quotable

Texas State coach Steve Trout said: “You have to give credit to Stanford. They made some really big swings in big moments and did a good job with their arms as well. As I told the team, we are over it. This is the beauty of being in the winner’s bracket. You get to come back tomorrow and play one game to move onto the Super Regional.”

Texas State upsets Stanford and inches closer to an NCAA regional title

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Another night, another milestone for the Texas State Bobcats’ baseball team. The Bobcats hit three home runs Saturday in a 5-2 NCAA tournament victory over Stanford, which snapped the Cardinal’s 17-game winning streak.

Jose Gonzalez ripped two homers and Wesley Faison added another as the Bobcats upended the top-seeded team on its home field in the Palo Alto regional.

More importantly, the second-seeded Bobcats improved to 2-0 in the tournament and moved to within one victory of the regional title.

On Sunday, third-seeded UC Santa Barbara and Stanford will play the first game of the day. It’s an elimination game, with the loser going home. The winner will meet the Bobcats on Sunday night. If the Bobcats win, they would claim their first regional crown.

If they lose, the same teams would play again on Monday to decide which team advances to the Super Regional round.

Levi Wells, a sophomore from La Porte, pitched seven innings and allowed two runs to earn the victory. Finishing on the back end was Tristan Stivors, from San Antonio area Medina Valley High School, who worked the last two innings for his national-best 18th save.

In the past few weeks, the Bobcats have strung together some impressive team accomplishments. They won the regular-season title in the Sun Belt Conference. They set a school record for victories in a season, which is now at 47.

On Friday, they hit two home runs and cruised to a 7-3 victory over UC Santa Barbara.

In beating Stanford on Saturday, the Bobcats may have topped everything. The Cardinal entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 overall seed in the 64-team field. Stanford hadn’t lost a game since May 1 at Washington, and yet the the Bobcats won and opened an NCAA tournament regional at 2-0 for the first time.

This is Texas State’s sixth trip to the NCAAs, and its first since 2011.

Records

Texas State 47-12
Stanford 42-15

Coming up

Sunday — UC Santa Barbara vs. Stanford, 3 p.m. UC Santa Barbara-Stanford winner vs. Texas State, 9 p.m.

Monday — Championship game, if necessary, TBD.

Notable

Gonzalez stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first and blasted a solo home run, pulling it over the right field wall, for a 1-0 Texas State lead. After Stanford tied the game with a run in the second inning, the Bobcats retaliated in the fourth. First, Gonzalez led off with a solo shot to the opposite field in left. His blow made it 2-1 Texas State. Next, Justin Thompson doubled down the line. Faison, the next batter up, ripped a two-run shot to make it 4-1.

Quotable

Asked jokingly by an ESPN commentator what he had to eat before the game, Gonzalez said he had rice and beans at a San Francisco restaurant. “I was pretty disappointed with myself yesterday,” he said. “I felt like I was trying to do too much a little bit. I just had to go back to .. what got me to this point now. Seeing the ball deep and being able to react and hit the pitches, you know.”

Texas State powers past UC Santa Barbara 7-3 in NCAA tournament opener

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The Texas State Bobcats returned to the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time in 11 years Friday night, and they made the most of the opportunity with a 7-3 victory over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Palo Alto, Calif.

Playing in the Palo Alto regional, on tree-lined Klein Field at Sunken Diamond, the Bobcats scored four runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good against the Gauchos. The big blow in the inning was a three-run home run by Peyton Lewis.

Ben McClain hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning for a 6-3 lead. It was Texas State’s 82nd home run of the season, and it sailed high over the trees in right center. Lewis walked with the bases loaded in the seventh to make it 7-3, earning his fourth RBI on the night.

Zeke Wood, Triston Dixon and Austin Smith combined to hold the Gauchos to six hits. Wood, a 6-foot-4, righthander, pitched six innings to earn the victory. He improved to 7-1. Smith worked the final 2 and 2/3 innings to pick up the save.

Saddled with his first loss of the season, UC Santa Barbara starting pitcher Cory Lewis dropped to 9-1. He was roughed up for four runs on four hits in five innings.

With the victory, the Bobcats moved along in the winners bracket of the double-elimination tournament, set to meet the powerful Stanford Cardinal on Saturday — on the Cardinal’s home field.

Stanford, on a 17-game winning streak after a 20-7 victory over Binghamton, N.Y., is the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and the top seed in the regional. Texas State is the second seed in the regional.

Three-seed UC Santa Barbara will play four seed Binghamton, from Vestal, N.Y., in the losers bracket.

Records

Texas State 46-12
UC Santa Barbara 43-13

Coming up

Saturday — Binghamton vs. UC Santa Barbara (losers bracket), time TBD; Texas State vs. Stanford (winners bracket), 9 p.m.

Notable

One of the plays of the game came in the bottom of the third when Dalton Shuffield, a Texas State senior from San Antonio’s Johnson High School, hit a drive to the outfield wall that was caught on the run by UC Santa Barbara centerfielder Nick Vogt.

In the eighth inning, Shuffield walked and took second on a wild pitch but then was picked off for the second out. Shuffield, the Sun Belt Conference’s player of the year, went one for three in the game.

Because of Austin Smith’s strong performance to finish the game in relief, Tristan Stivors, the national leader in saves with 17, did not pitch for the Bobcats. Stivors, a first-team, All American by Collegiate Baseball magazine, is from San Antonio-area Medina Valley High School.

A&M’s Jordan Thompson makes a memory in the College Station regional

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Jordan Thompson likely will always remember his first at bat in the NCAA baseball tournament.

The former standout at Boerne Champion High School hit a two-run homer in the second inning Friday to help ignite the Texas A&M Aggies in an 8-2 victory over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

Thompson, a San Antonio native, added a single to give him two hits in the opening game of the College Station regional.

Jordan Thompson playing for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jordan Thompson playing for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

At 6 feet and 175 pounds, Thompson packs quite a wallop with his bat, and he proved that in the bottom of the second. With the Aggies trailing 1-0, Brett Minnich hit a double to get A&M started.

Thompson then unloaded with a blast that carried over the left field wall.

Playing their first NCAA game under first-year coach Jim Schlossnagle, the Aggies made it 3-1 in the fifth inning and then 6-1 in the seventh on Austin Bost’s three-run homer.

In a two-run eighth for the Aggies, Thompson struck again. He singled and eventually scored on a Jack Moss’ double. All told, Thompson finished his day two for four, with two runs scored and two RBI.

Not bad for a player that wasn’t heavily-recruited out of high school.

Thompson played as a freshman at the University of the Incarnate Word. He moved on in his sophomore year to toil at Grayson College. With the season cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic, Thompson looked for his next opportunity and found it with the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

So, in the summer of 2020, with much of the nation locked down in quarantine, he played with the Chanclas in the Texas Collegiate League to hone his skills and to prepare for his first season with the Aggies.

“My journey to get (to A&M) was a little unconventional, but it’s my journey, and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he told The JB Replay on the eve of the TCL season. “Going from UIW, a coaching staff change, leaving to go to Grayson, then going on to Texas A&M, I love my story.

Jordan Thompson playing for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jordan Thompson takes a big swing at a pitch in 2020 with the Flying Chanclas. For fans in San Antonio at Wolff Stadium, the Chanclas were the only show in town that summer after officials canceled all levels of affiliated professional ball at the minor-league level. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I’m just really excited to be where I want to be. It’s every kid’s dream to go to a Power 5 conference, (to) Texas A&M especially.”

Thompson has seen it all in terms of the business of college baseball.

He has experienced two coaching changes. In 2019, after his freshman year at UIW, coach Pat Hallmark left to take a new job with the UTSA Roadrunners. At the end of the 2021 season, just as Thompson won the Wally Moon Award as the Aggies’ most improved player, his world was rocked again.

Rob Childress, the coach who brought him to College Station, was dismissed and Schlossnagle was hired.

With the former head coach at TCU now in charge in Aggieland, Thompson didn’t flinch. He adapted to the change, stayed with it and played in 39 of the Aggies’ 56 games this season, starting 28 of them. Thompson hit a modest .253 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.

But, as Oral Roberts now knows, one of the smallest players on the A&M squad can play at the major college level, and he can achieve on the big stage of the NCAA tournament.

“He has been the ultimate team guy and ready to perform when called upon,” Schlossnagle told reporters on the eve of the regional. “That’s how you put together special seasons.”

Jordan Thompson playing for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jordan Thompson played outfield for a Flying Chanclas team that included the likes Kite McDonald (from Antonian and Mississippi State) and Porter Brown (from Reagan and TCU). – Photo by Joe Alexander

Jung, Shuffield, Stivors lead area talent into NCAA tournament

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Texas State relief pitcher Tristan Stivors, a senior from Medina Valley High School, pitching against UTSA at Roadrunner Field on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. - photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State relief pitcher Tristan Stivors, a senior from Medina Valley High School, has earned first-team, All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Here, he is pitching against UTSA at Roadrunner Field on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Most observers in college baseball who follow the game closely knew that Texas Tech infielder Jace Jung had the talent to lead his team into the NCAA tournament — and he did.

Jung, a third-year sophomore from MacArthur, lived up to his billing. Showing patience at the plate as one of the most feared power threats in the nation, he paced the Red Raiders in multiple offensive categories and earned all-conference honors in the Big 12.

Tech is scheduled to open the tournament Friday in the NCAA Statesboro regional in Georgia. The Red Raiders will play Notre Dame in their opener.

Jace Jung, a Texas Tech sophomore from San Antonio MacArthur, is regarded as one of the top prospects in college baseball leading into the 2022 draft. — Photo, courtesy of Texas Tech athletics, by Elise Bressler

More surprising than Jung’s efforts were the performances of two other players with San Antonio-area connections — Texas State’s Dalton Shuffield and Tristan Stivors.

Shuffield, a senior infielder from Johnson, and Stivors, a senior pitcher from Medina Valley, emerged as two of the best players in Texas.

With a robust .390 batting average, Shuffield was the Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. Stivors led all of NCAA Division I with 17 saves.

The Bobcats’ NCAA sojourn starts Friday night at 8 p.m. when they take on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the Palo Alto regional.

Jalen Battles of Arkansas (from Madison High School), Luke Boyers of TCU (Boerne Champion) and Douglas Hodo III of Texas (Boerne) were three others from the area who started on teams that will play in the national tournament.

Local athletes
Elite performances

Jace Jung-Texas Tech, Dalton Shuffield-Texas State, Tristan Stivors-Texas State. Shuffield was Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. Stivors was named first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Jung and Shuffield were named to Collegiate Baseball’s second team. All three were named to their respective all-conference first teams.

Starters

Jalen Battles-Arkansas, Luke Boyers-TCU, Douglas Hodo III-Texas, Jace Jung-Texas Tech, Dalton Shuffield-Texas State, Tristan Stivors-Texas State. (Stivors is included in this list because of his standing as a core player on the Bobcats’ pitching staff).

Player periscope

Jalen Battles, shortstop, an Arkansas senior from Madison High School — Slashed .289/.357/.490 at the plate for the Razorbacks and once again displayed skills that showed he is one of the top defensive shortstops in the Southeastern Conference. His offensive numbers improved from his first season in Fayetteville. Last season, he slashed .269/.371/.407.

Luke Boyers, right field, a TCU sophomore from Boerne Champion — Boyers started all 56 games for the Horned Frogs. He starred defensively with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. A former quarterback in high school, Boyers had 113 putouts and three assists in 116 chances. Offensively, he slashed .256/.347/.412.

Douglas Hodo III, center field, a Texas redshirt sophomore from Boerne — Hodo was a steady force both defensively and offensively. Switching from right field last year to play center this year, he produced a 1.000 fielding percentage with 126 putouts and one assist in 127 chances. Offensively, his slash line .311/.409/.518. He improved his batting average 30 points from last year. Hodo ripped a team-leading 24 doubles and scored 65 runs, which ranked second.

Jace Jung, second base, a Texas Tech redshirt sophomore from MacArthur — Considered one of baseball’s top prospects leading into MLB draft this summer, Jung led the Red Raiders with a .340 batting average and tied for the team lead with 14 home runs. He also produced 56 RBI. Jung’s home run production was down from last year, when hit 21, but it’s been traced to the way opponents pitched so carefully to him. Jung, the younger brother of Texas Rangers minor league standout Josh Jung, was fifth nationally with 58 walks.

Dalton Shuffield, shortstop, a Texas State senior from Johnson — In earning Player of the Year honors in the Sun Belt, Shuffield became the first Texas State player to do so since Paul Goldschmidt in 2009 … Goldschmidt is a six-time all-star in the major leagues … Shuffield led the Bobcats in hitting (.390), doubles (20) and runs scored (76). His slash line was a robust .390/.450/.686. Defensively, he struggled at times with 14 errors in 245 chances. Shuffield is Texas State’s career leader in doubles, triples and extra-base hits.

Tristan Stivors, relief pitcher, a Texas State senior from Medina Valley — Stivors was a rock in the Bobcats’ bullpen all season, utilizing a devastating breaking ball to ring up a nation-leading 17 saves. He also recorded an earned run average of 2.42, which was second on the team. For the season, Stivors struck out 72 and walked only 16 in 52 innings.

NCAA tournament

San Antonio athletes in the NCAA tournament:

Coleson Abel, Texas Tech, LHP, freshman from Kerrville Tivy

Jalen Battles, Arkansas, SS, senior from Madison and McLennan Community College

Rody Barker, Texas A&M, OF-C, graduate transfer from Kerrville Tivy, New Mexico Junior College

Brandon Beckel, Texas Tech, P, sophomore from Antonian

Luke Boyers, TCU, OF, sophomore from Boerne Champion

Porter Brown, TCU, OF, redshirt sophomore from Reagan

Nathan Dettmer, Texas A&M, P, sophomore from Johnson

Cohen Feser, TCU, P, freshman from Reagan

Douglas Hodo III, Texas, OF, redshirt sophomore from Boerne

Jace Jung, Texas Tech, 2B, sophomore from MacArthur

Alex Magers, Texas A&M, P, sophomore from D’Hanis

Matthew Nicholas, Texas State, RHP, New Braunfels Christian Academy

August Ramirez, Texas State, C, redshirt sophomore from O’Connor

Dalton Shuffield, Texas State, INF, senior from Johnson

Travis Sthele, Texas, P, redshirt freshman from Reagan

Tristan Stivors, Texas State, P, senior from Medina Valley and New Mexico JC

Austin Stracener, Texas A&M, INF, freshman from New Braunfels Canyon

Jordan Thompson, Texas A&M, OF, junior from Boerne Champion, Incarnate Word, Grayson College

Sam Walbridge, Texas, P, redshirt sophomore from Saint Mary’s Hall

Zac Vooletich, Texas Tech, INF/OF, junior from Brandeis and Navarro College

Baseball America: UTSA projected as last team in the NCAA field

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UTSA is projected by Baseball America as “the last team in” the NCAA tournament’s 64-team bracket.

The magazine’s website has UTSA pegged to start play this weekend in the Austin Regional against the Texas State Bobcats.

The NCAA will announce the bracket Monday morning at 11 a.m. If the Roadrunners make it, they would become the first team in school history to receive an at-large bid to the national tournament.

That would include men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball. UTSA has reached the NCAA baseball tournament only three times, in 1994 and 2005 out of the Southland Conference and in 2013 out of the Western Athletic Conference.

According to the magazine, the “last four in” include UTSA at No. 64, along with Dallas Baptist at 63, Rutgers at 62 and Coastal Carolina at 61.

On the flip side, the magazine lists the “first four out” as No. 65 Liberty, followed by Wofford at 66, Old Dominion at 67 and West Virginia at 68.

The Roadrunners stated their case for qualification at the Conference USA tournament. At the C-USA event, they beat Florida Atlantic in their opener and followed that with back-to-back victories over 14th-ranked Southern Mississippi.

Southern Miss was the tournament host and the C-USA’s regular-season champion.

In downing the Golden Eagles by scores of 7-6 on Friday and 11-2 on Saturday, the Roadrunners vaulted up the national ratings percentage index into the 30s and made a strong case as an at-large candidate for the NCAA field.

On Sunday, they had a chance to earn the C-USA’s automatic bid, but they lost 9-8, falling to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on a ninth-inning single.

Conference USA hopes to get four teams in the NCAA field. The RPI standings after Sunday’s games had Southern Miss at No. 18, Louisiana Tech at No. 34, UTSA at 38 and Old Dominion at 41.

Record

UTSA 38-20

UTSA is looking to extend its season beyond this week

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UTSA's Luke Malone entered the game with two outs in the seventh and finished the game without allowing a run to get the win against UAB on Friday, May 20, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. Malone (8-3) struck out six batters, didn't walk any and gave up two hits. - photo by Joe Alexander

Pitcher Luke Malone was one of four UTSA players to receive all-Conference USA honors this week. Malone made the C-USA’s first team. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Coming off their best regular season in nearly a decade, the UTSA Roadrunners are given a fair chance to play another day even after the conclusion of this week’s eight-team Conference USA baseball tournament.

Of course, the Roadrunners can control their own destiny. If they can win the C-USA postseason title this week in Hattiesburg, Miss., then they’ll qualify automatically to play in one of 16 NCAA regionals next week.

And if they come up short of the C-USA title? Well, at that point, it becomes a waiting game to find out if they have done enough over the course of the entire season to claim an at-large bid.

Editors at d1baseball.com have projected that by the end of the weekend, when final touches on a 64-team NCAA bracket will be made by a national committee, the Roadrunners will make it in.

One of the most respected outlets covering the college game, D1Baseball projects that the last four teams invited into the national field will be North Carolina State, UTSA, Old Dominion and Clemson.

The website predicts that C-USA regular-season champion Southern Miss will earn a No. 9 overall seed nationally and will host one of the regionals on opening weekend. The site also predicts that Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and UTSA will make the field from the C-USA.

Obviously, nobody knows for sure what will happen this week, and that’s why the coming days are so interesting.

Media projections on the makeup of the NCAA field can be upended when teams with poor records rise up and win a conference tournament. At that point, the question becomes whether the high seeds in those conferences have done enough to warrant selection as an NCAA at-large team.

The more upsets that happen, the more that teams such as UTSA and Old Dominion start to get nervous. Really, UTSA coach Pat Hallmark was already getting anxious about it last Saturday after his team (35-19 overall, 19-11 C-USA) had won its last game.

“We got a little more work to do,” Hallmark said. “We’ve got some games ahead of us at the (C-USA) tournament. (We want to) get over there and win some and try to make an at-large (NCAA bid.) If nothing else, win four over there (for the title) and lock it up.”

It’s been suggested that the Roadrunners may need to win at least a couple of games, possibly even three, to feel comfortable about pulling down the at-large bid. Hallmark just isn’t sure how it will shake out.

“I think we’ll need to win at least one, for sure,” he said. “Two would be nice. More than two would probably secure it. I don’t know.”

Hallmark, whose team is 47th in this week’s national ratings percentage index, talked to Southern Miss coach Scott Berry about life on the tournament bubble a few weeks ago.

“You hear horror stories,” Hallmark said. “He told me they had an RPI in the 30s one year and didn’t get in. At the end of the day, we’re just going to try and play good baseball … Because, that’s all you can really do. You can’t always control the end result.

“But, you can theoretically control playing (well). We’re just trying to play (well), and more times than not, that’s going to equal a win.”

The C-USA’s fifth-seeded Roadrunners will take on the four seed FAU Owls tonight at 7:30. It’ll be the last of four games played today.

If they win, they can avoid the always-perilous losers’ bracket and play again at 7:30 Thursday night. That would be against either the top-seeded Golden Eagles or the eight seed UAB Blazers.

The tournament continues through Sunday. On Monday, the NCAA bracket will be unveiled. UTSA hasn’t played in an NCAA tournament since 2013.

C-USA baseball tournament

Wednesday through Sunday, at Pete Taylor Park, Hattiesburg, Miss. Double elimination format with a single-elimination championship game. Winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Wednesday’s games

Game 1 — Middle Tennessee vs. Old Dominion, 9 a.m.
Game 2 — Charlotte vs. Louisiana Tech, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 — UAB vs. Southern Miss, 4 p.m.
Game 4 — UTSA vs. Florida Atlantic, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday’s games

Game 5 — Loser Game 1 vs. loser Game 2, 9 a.m.
Game 6 — Winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 — Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 8 — Winner Game 3 vs. winner Game 4, 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 9 — Winner Game 5 vs. loser Game 6, 2 p.m.
Game 10 — Winner Game 7 vs. loser Game 8, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 11 — Winner Game 6 vs. winner Game 9, 9 a.m.
Game 12 — Winner Game 8 vs. winner Game 10, 12:30 p.m.
Game 13 — Same as Game 11 (if necessary), 4 p.m.
Game 14 — Same as Game 12 (if necessary), 7:30 p.m.

Sunday

Championship — 1 p.m.

Seedings

1) Southern Miss; 2) Louisiana Tech; 3) Old Dominion; 4) Florida Atlantic; 5) UTSA; 6) Middle Tennessee; 7) Charlotte; 8) UAB.

Regular-season records

Southern Miss (41-14, 23-7)
Louisiana Tech (38-18, 20-10)
Old Dominion (38-15, 19-11)
FAU (34-21, 19-11)
UTSA (35-19, 19-11)
Middle Tennessee (28-24, 17-13)
Charlotte (35-20, 17-13)
UAB (31-23, 13-17)

Ratings Percentage Index

11 — Southern Miss
45 — Old Dominion
46 — Louisiana Tech
47 — UTSA
58 — Middle Tennessee
73 — Charlotte
86 — UAB
90 — Florida Atlantic

Postseason awards

Pitcher Luke Malone and infielders Jonathan Tapia, Leyton Barry and Matt King have all earned Conference USA honors. Malone made the C-USA first team. Tapia and Barry were on the second team. King made the all freshman team.

Roadrunners’ NCAA dreams are alive leading into Hattiesburg

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Ian Bailey's second-inning home run. UTSA beat UAB 12-2 on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at Roadrunner Field in the final game of the Conference USA baseball regular season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Ian Bailey crushes the first of his two home runs Saturday in UTSA’s regular-season ending victory over the UAB Blazers. UTSA (35-19 overall, 19-11 in Conference USA) will move into postseason play next week in Mississippi. The fifth-seeded Roadrunners are scheduled to open the C-USA tournament Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against the No. 4-seed FAU Owls. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners completed the regular season in style on Saturday, by pitching well and by hitting four homers in a 12-2 victory over the UAB Blazers.

After polishing off the Blazers in a game called after seven innings on the run rule, UTSA players mingled with fans and friends, taking pictures and soaking up the moment.

Ulises Quiroga. UTSA beat UAB 12-2 on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at Roadrunner Field in the final game of the Conference USA baseball regular season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Ulises Quiroga rocks and fires against the UAB Blazers. Quiroga pitched four innings, allowing only one run on two hits, to earn the victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander

It seemed like a perfect time to rattle off the essential numbers for the Roadrunners — a 35-19 record overall and, more importantly, a 19-11 finish in Conference USA.

“Sounds good to me,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “Sounds good.”

Beaten soundly on Thursday night by the Blazers, the Roadrunners rebounded to win Friday night and again Saturday to take two of three in the final series of the season and to establish themselves as one of the conference’s upper-echelon teams.

They’ll start play in Hattiesburg next Wednesday, competing in an eight-team, double-elimination event for the C-USA postseason crown. The Roadrunners are seeded fifth and will take on the four seed Florida Atlantic Owls in their opener.

The game is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pete Taylor Park.

The C-USA winner next week claims the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. But because of the Roadrunners’ strong play throughout the season — they were 48th in the national ratings percentage index on Sunday morning — they might not necessarily have to win the whole thing in Hattiesburg to make the 64-team national field.

It may only take two or three victories.

Kody Darcy. UTSA beat UAB 12-2 on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at Roadrunner Field in the final game of the Conference USA baseball regular season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Kody Darcy started at shortstop against UAB in the last game of the season at Roadrunner Field. At the plate, he contributed a sacrifice bunt that moved runners up in a two-run sixth and a two-run triple in the six-run seventh. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“We got a little more work to do,” Hallmark said. “We’ve got some games ahead of us at the (C-USA) tournament. (We want to) get over there and win some and try to make an at-large (NCAA bid.) If nothing else, win four over there (for the title) and lock it up.”

UTSA’s dreams of becoming the school’s first NCAA tournament entry in baseball since 2013 were dimmed on Thursday night when UAB erupted for an 18-7 victory. In the loss, the Roadrunners looked sluggish. They gave up a couple of long home runs and made a season-high five errors.

But, as it turned out, they weren’t down for long. By Friday night, they re-discovered their home-field magic, hitting five home runs en route to a 7-2 victory to even the series. UTSA pounded three of the homers in a five-run eighth inning.

On Saturday, not only did they shut down the Blazers for the second game in a row, limiting the visitors to four hits, but they also kept bashing balls out of the park. The Roadrunners hit four more homers, including two of them by senior Ian Bailey.

Leyton Barry. UTSA beat UAB 12-2 on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at Roadrunner Field in the final game of the Conference USA baseball regular season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Leyton Barry went four for four at the plate and stole two bases. Here, he’s safe after doubling and stealing third in the bottom of the second inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Hallmark was at a loss to explain the turn-around from a less-than-memorable Game One against the Blazers.

“That’s baseball,” the coach said. “You know, you don’t always play good. It’s a difficult game. And we’ve played mostly good. You’ve seen us enough to know we don’t always play good, but we play good more than we don’t.

“This weekend, you win two out of three against a tough team, a 30-win team, you got to feel pretty good about yourself.”

Records

UAB 31-23, 13-17
UTSA 35-19, 19-11

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 23-7
Louisiana Tech 20-10
Old Dominion 19-11
Florida Atlantic 19-11
UTSA 19-11
Middle Tennessee 17-13
Charlotte 17-13
UAB 13-17

Coming up

UTSA will play next week in the Conference USA tournament. The site is Hattiesburg, Miss. First games are Wednesday.

Fifth-seeded UTSA plays four seed Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night. If it wins, it would advance to meet the winner between one-seed and regular-season champion Southern Miss and eight seed UAB. That winner’s bracket game would be Thursday night.

The double-elimination event will run for five days through next Sunday. The NCAA tournament field will be unveiled the following Monday, on May 30, with the first games in the regionals set for June 3.

Notable

UTSA has some concerns going into Hattiesburg, with ace reliever Simon Miller nursing a sore back that has kept him out of the lineup for the last five games. Also, a few other pitchers in the bullpen haven’t been available lately because of injuries and aren’t expected to be back. Thus, it may fall on the offense to carry the team.

One of the positive signs is the resurgence of Ian Bailey. Bailey, a graduate student from Stevens High School, went two for two on Saturday with two solo home runs to give him three homers in his last two games and a team-high 15 for the season. In three games against the Blazers, Bailey was locked in. In 10 at bats, he had six hits and four RBIs.

Other notable developments included solid pitching performances from Jacob Jimenez, Braylon Owens and Luke Malone on Friday and from Ryan Ward, Ulises Quiroga and Fischer Kingsbery on Saturday. Quiroga was particularly good, working four innnings, giving up only one run on two hits and striking out six in the series finale.

Quotable

Bailey, who started his collegiate career at Grambling University in Louisiana, was humbled after the home finale by the greetings he received from family and friends in the wake of his last game at Roadrunner Field.

“Honestly, I’m just very thankful for all the support, not just for myself, but for the team in general,” he said. “Without these people, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I’m just super thankful that they came out to support the team.”

And how did he feel about the way the team played this weekend? “We came out slow (on Thursday). But over the course of the weekend … we just turned (on) another gear, especially last night. We just found another gear and hit our stride.”

What happened between Thursday night’s loss and Game Two on Friday night?

“I just think we all knew we weren’t playing to the best of our abilities,” Bailey said. “I just think we collectively wanted to do better. (On Friday) we came out with a lot more energy and a lot more pride, with a lot more confidence, and we got the job done.”

And what of his own performance, finding his power stroke after not hitting a home run in six straight games?

“This past week, I had been in a little rut. With Coach Hallmark and the coaches, we went to the cage and just ironed it out. I came out with a lot more confidence. I was just really trusting in my approach. Good things happened.”

Visuals

Here are a few highlights from UTSA’s 12-2 victory Saturday over the UAB Blazers:

UTSA’s home run barrage sparks a 7-2 victory over UAB

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UTSA's Kody Darcy (second from left) celebrates with teammates after his eighth-inning home run against UAB on Friday, May 20, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Kody Darcy (second from left) celebrates with teammates after his eighth-inning home run against the UAB Blazers – Photo by Joe Alexander

Struggling on offense in the middle innings, UTSA exploded for five runs in the bottom of the eighth Friday night and emerged with a 7-2 victory over the UAB Blazers at Roadrunner Field.

Chase Keng, Ian Bailey and Kody Darcy hit home runs in the inning to help the Roadrunners set a school single-season record with their 18th Conference USA victory.

Coming out of the bullpen, Luke Malone shut down UAB on no runs and two hits in the final 2 and 1/3 innings to earn the victory.

UTSA's Ian Bailey celebrates while rounding the bases on his eighth-inning home run against UAB on Friday, May 20, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Ian Bailey, a senior graduate student from Stevens High School, rounds the bases after hitting his team-high 13th home run of the season in the eighth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Solo home runs from Shane Sirdashney in the first inning and Jonathan Tapia in the third propelled UTSA into an early 2-2 tie.

The five home runs for the Roadrunners tied a team season high established only one other time — on March 6 — in a 15-7 victory at home over the Southern Jaguars.

UTSA and UAB, with one win apiece, will play the finale of their C-USA weekend series at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Records

UAB 31-22, 13-16
UTSA 34-19, 18-11

Coming up

Saturday — UAB at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 22-7
Louisiana Tech 19-10
UTSA 18-11
Old Dominion 18-11
Florida Atlantic 18-11
Middle Tennessee 17-12
Charlotte 17-12
UAB 13-16

Notable

UTSA has been playing a C-USA schedule since the spring of 2014. Previously, the UTSA school record for C-USA single-season wins came in 2015 when the Roadrunners went 17-13.

This year’s Roadrunners had their first chance to get No. 18 in the series opener on Thursday night, but the Blazers denied them, putting together two big innings for an 18-7 victory.

On Friday night, the Roadrunners scored a run in the bottom of the third on a Tapia homer to tie the game 2-2. But from there, the bats went cold.

Blazers pitching held the Roadrunners hitless in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Bailey led off with a double, and UTSA went on to put runners at second and third with one out. But the Roadrunners failed to score.

UTSA finally broke through in the eighth. Shane Sirdashney led off with a single to left. Ryan Flores legged out a bunt single, putting men at first and second. With Josh Killeen at the plate, both moved up on a wild pitch.

Killeen broke the tie with a fielder’s choice ground ball that brought Sirdashney in from third for a 3-2 UTSA lead.

At that point, the Roadrunners’ power game materialized with back-to-back homers. Chase Keng launched a two-run homer to right center and Bailey smoked a solo shot to left. One out later, Darcy connected on a solo shot to left for the 7-2 lead.

For Darcy, it was his second home run of the year. He hit the first one in the season opener on Feb. 18 at Tarleton State. Bailey has 13 homers on the season, while Keng has seven, Tapia six and Sirdashney five.

UAB throttles UTSA 18-7 as Josh Sears hits two long home runs

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UAB first baseman Josh Sears had four hits including two home runs against UTSA on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UAB first baseman Josh Sears had four hits, including two home runs, as UAB opened a three-game series against UTSA with an 18-7 victory at Roadrunner Field. — Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners needed a victory to kick-start their drive into next week’s round of postseason play.

They also wanted to win to keep adding to their season-long record of success, to show the NCAA tournament committee that they are indeed a worthy choice for an at-large bid.

What they got, instead, was a dose of humility.

Josh Sears hammered two long home runs, and the UAB Blazers took advantage of five UTSA errors en route to an easy 18-7 victory Thursday night at Roadrunner Field.

“It’s always good to win (a series opener),” first-year UAB coach Casey Dunn said. “I thought Josh Sears did a really good job of driving in some runs and creating a couple of big offensive innings for us.

“And I was really pleased with (relief pitcher) Tyler O’Clair tonight. We had kind of pre-determined that (starter) Jackson (Reynolds) would only go two innings, getting him ready for the (Conference USA) tournament next week.

UTSA's Chase Keng had five hits including a double against UAB on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Chase Keng went five for five with two doubles to spark the home team. — Photo by Joe Alexander.

“You know, Tyler being able to come in and throw four innings and do it fairly cleanly — they took some good at-bats against us and scored a couple — but for him to get us to the seventh inning with the lead I thought was really big.”

Sears hit a solo home run in the second inning, a long ball belted high into the screen over the left field wall.

He added a single and scored a run in a six-run third. After a fly out in the fifth inning, Sears came to bat twice in a 10-run seventh. First time up, he singled and scored. Next, he added another monstrous blow to left, a three-run homer.

The two long balls increased his season home run total to 17. His four RBIs gave him 63.

Surely, going into Game Two of the series Friday and Game Three on Saturday, the Roadrunners will have his name circled. Or, underlined. Or, adorned with an asterisk. Or, something, when they display the UAB lineup card.

“Josh has real power,” Dunn said. “I think if you asked him, I think he’d probably tell you he’s underachieved this year for what his expectations are. You know, he was really hot early in the year for us. He scuffled here in conference play. Hopefully he can get it rolling … and be that threat in the middle of the order for us.”

The next two games loom large for the Roadrunners.

They probably need to win both of them, and then win at least a couple next week at the C-USA tournament, in order to receive serious consideration as an at-large candidate for the 64-team NCAA field.

Of course, UTSA could make the NCAAs by claiming the C-USA’s automatic bid.

But that would be the tough road, as the Roadrunners would need to win the tournament. The C-USA tournament is May 25-29 in Hattiesburg at Pete Taylor Park, the home of the regular-season Southern Miss Golden Eagles, who clinched the title Thursday night with a road victory against Middle Tennessee.

For the Blazers, the goal remains just to keep playing well and try to build some confidence and get the pitching ready. They’ve clinched a spot in the tournament with the eighth-best record and can’t move up or down. The Roadrunners, who were within one game of the C-USA lead last week, are locked in a five-way tie for third place in the standings.

Records

UAB 31-21, 13-15
UTSA 33-19, 17-11

Conference USA leaders

Southern Miss 21-7
Louisiana Tech 18-10
UTSA 17-11
Old Dominion 17-11
FAU 17-11
Middle Tennessee 17-11
Charlotte 17-11
UAB 13-15

Coming up

Friday — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — UAB at UTSA, 11:30 a.m.

C-USA tournament

May 25 through May 29 — At Hattiesburg, Miss.

Notable

It was a tough outing for UTSA starting pitcher Daniel Garza, who suffered his first loss of the season. Garza (3-1) pitched three innings and was responsible for seven runs on seven hits. The Blazers touched him for six hits and six runs — four earned — in the third inning as the visitors started to blow the game open.

After the Blazers exploded for 10 runs against the UTSA bullpen in the top of the seventh, the Roadrunners trailed in the game, 17-3. UAB’s 18 runs were an opponent season high against UTSA. UTSA’s five errors tied a season high from an April 17 loss at Rice, in which the Roadrunners fell by a score of 16-7.

Abraham DeLeon emerged as a bright spot on the UTSA pitching staff. DeLeon, a redshirt sophomore from Spring, pitched three innings and allowed only one run on one hit. It was DeLeon’s first appearance since April 17.

Around the C-USA

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles have clinched the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the C-USA tournament. The Golden Eagles locked up the championship with a 9-4 victory at Middle Tennessee, coupled with an 11-3 loss by second-place Louisiana Tech at Charlotte. Southern Miss (39-14) has two more to play in the regular season, both at Middle Tennessee on Friday and Saturday, before returning home to prepare for the tournament.