By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Hector Rodriguez stroked a go-ahead, two-run double and Caleb Hill followed with an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday, helping the UTSA Roadrunners rally to down the Baylor Bears 9-7 in Waco.
Trailing by one run with two outs in the seventh, the Roadrunners came alive when Rodriguez pulled a hard ground ball just inside the bag at first and into the right field corner, scoring two runs to make it 8-7.
Caleb Hill followed with his third hit of the night, an RBI single, to make it 9-7.
Braylon Owens (2-1) completed a two-inning relief effort by shutting out the Bears in the bottom of the seventh. He earned the win.
Fischer Kingsbery worked the eighth and Ruger Riojas pitched the ninth for his third save in the team’s last four games.
Last weekend, UTSA won its first series of games against a Top-10 opponent, taking two of three at home against the East Carolina Pirates.
Two days after an emotional 6-5 victory over the Pirates in the inaugural series as a member of the American Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners followed with their second win in Waco in two years.
In the more than 30-year history of games between the teams, Baylor holds a wide lead in the series, 36-10, including 26-6 in its home ball park.
UTSA has started to make some progress, however, winning 8-3 last year and winning again this season for the first back-to-back victories against Baylor since 1994.
A concern for the Roadrunners developed late in the game after Hill got his hit in the seventh and ran to first base. A trainer came out to check on him. Though he remained on the field, he pulled up slightly running to second base after a Mason Lytle single.
A few minutes later, UTSA coaches took their leading hitter out of the game and sent a defensive replacement into the outfield.
Regardless, it was another big night for the Roadrunners, who continue to swing hot bats. Entering the game batting better than .300 as a team, they had 15 hits against the Bears, including three by Hill and three by Lytle.
UTSA also showed resilience, rallying from deficits of 5-3 after three innings and 7-5 after four. In addition, the team showed it was capable of winning in the mid-week, evening its record to 3-3 in games played on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Roadrunners have a weekend series in the American Athletic Conference on the horizon, as they’re set to play three in three days starting Thursday in New Orleans against Tulane.
Records
UTSA 13-12
Baylor 8-16
Coming up
(AAC) UTSA at Tulane, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
(AAC) UTSA at Tulane, Friday, 6:30 p.m.
(AAC) UTSA at Tulane, Saturday, noon