Category Archives: College baseball

Rice catches a 10th-inning break and beats UTSA, 9-8

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After letting a three-run lead slip away in the ninth inning Friday night, Rice Owls pushed across the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th, beating the UTSA Roadrunners, 9-8, in the American Athletic Conference.

A crazy sequence of two plays gave the victory to the Owls and knocked the Roadrunners out of first place in the AAC.

First, Tobias Motley lofted a pop fly to shallow right field. With the UTSA right fielder charging in, the ball dropped behind him, allowing Motley to motor all the way to third base.

Jacob Devenny followed with a squeeze bunt, ruled as an RBI single, for the winner. UTSA pitcher Ruger Riojas couldn’t catch it cleanly, everyone was safe, and Rice came away with the victory in the first game of a three-game series at Reckling Park.

It was a heartbreaker for the Roadrunners, and it was also costly. Earlier in the evening, the East Carolina Pirates won on the road, beating the Memphis Tigers 14-0 on the run rule in seven innings.

The Pirates now lead the AAC race with a record of 12-4, followed by the Roadrunners, who fell one game back at 11-5.

Motley and Ben Dukes slammed two-out, two-run homers off UTSA freshman Rob Orloski in the second inning, staking the Owls to a 4-1 lead.

The Roadrunners battled back with three runs on only one hit off Parker Smith in the top of the fourth to tie it. Undeterred, the Owls answered with two more scores in the bottom half to make it 6-4.

Manny Garza hiked the Owls’ advantage to 7-4 when he belted a solo home run in the fifth.

In the eighth inning, the Roadrunners started a rally, getting a couple of runners on for Caleb Hill, who rapped an RBI single through the right side.

At that point, Rice reliever Davion Hixon got tough. With runners at second and third, UTSA needed only a base hit to tie it, but Hixon struck out Alexander Olivo on a high fastball and got Matt King on a fly ball to center to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Owls tacked on a run for insurance. Treyton Rank’s RBI single off Ruger Riojas padded the lead to 8-5.

UTSA rallied in the ninth to load the bases against Hixon with a leadoff double by Ty Tilson, a single by Isaiah Walker and then a walk to Diego Diaz. At that point, Mark Henning hit a one-hopper to Hixon, who threw home for the force and the first out.

Subsequently, Broc Parker came to the plate as a pinch hitter and delivered with a two-run double to right, pulling UTSA to within one. With runners at first and third, Mason Lytle smashed a double off the wall in right, bringing in the tying run to make it 8-8.

Records

UTSA 24-17, 11-5
Rice 16-25, 7-9

Coming up

Game Two of a three-game series in the AAC. UTSA at Rice, Saturday at 2 p.m. Game 3 is Sunday at 1 p.m.

UTSA opens a three-game AAC baseball series at Rice

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

Infielder/designated hitter Alexander Olivo batted .462 with four RBI in four games for the Roadrunners last week. – File photo by Joe Alexander.

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the UTSA Roadrunners, winning baseball games against the Rice Owls once seemed like a nearly insurmountable challenge. Winning on the road at Rice? Well, that once seemed to border on the impossible.

Lately, the tables have turned, according to a game-by-game account of the series in the UTSA baseball record book. Rice holds a 28-22 edge, but UTSA has won 15 of the last 21 since 2018, including the last four.

More surprisingly, UTSA is 9-4 against Rice in the last 13 meetings at Houston. Quite a change from the early days of the series when the Owls once went 13-0 at home against the Roadrunners over the first 11 years of the series.

Naturally, except for historical context, none of that matters when the Roadrunners open a three-game road series against the Owls at Reckling starting tonight.

With both competing in their first season among the 10 baseball-playing members of the American Athletic Conference, UTSA comes into the weekend tied for first place with the East Carolina Pirates. Rice enters tied for eighth, though the Owls have started to show more consistency of late.

Coached by Jose Cruz Jr., the namesake son of a 1980s-era Houston Astros standout, the Owls have won six of their last seven overall. They are 5-1 in their last six AAC games after sweeping three at South Florida last weekend.

Led by slugging Treyton Rank, the Owls scored in double figures in each of their three games against the Bulls. Rank, a junior from Monticello, Fla., hit .581 with three doubles, a homer and eight RBI in the series.

Records

UTSA 24-16, 11-4
Rice 15-25, 6-9

Coming up

A three-game American Athletic Conference series. UTSA at Rice, Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m. Freshman Robert Orloski is scheduled to start the opener for the Roadrunners against the Owls’ Parker Smith.

Notable

UTSA head coach Pat Hallmark is 12-5 against Rice, where he once played for a season and later served as a longtime assistant coach under Wayne Graham. Hallmark’s Roadrunners went 5-1 against Rice last season. Hallmark played at Rice in 1995 and worked as an assistant coach there from 2006-16.

After an up-and-down start to this season, Hallmark’s Roadrunners are 14-5 over their last 19 games. Last week, UTSA went 3-1 at home, winning two of three on the weekend against the UAB Blazers.

The Roadrunners have remained in the AAC title race with East Carolina despite the loss of injured Tye Odom. UTSA is 7-3 without Odom, a multi-skilled outfielder, since he went down with a high ankle sprain at home against Charlotte on April 5. His availability for the Rice series is uncertain.

UTSA worked utility man Isaiah Walker back into the lineup last weekend against UAB. Walker, one of the team’s best defensive players at multiple positions, has played in only six games this season.

The Roadrunners have won all five series they have played in the AAC, including road series wins at Tulane (3-0) and Memphis (2-1). UTSA players in the hunt for postseason honors include pitchers Ruger Riojas and Ulises Quiroga, outfielders Mason Lytle and Caleb Hill and infielder Matt King.

Riojas leads the AAC in saves (six), is second in wins (seven) and third in ERA (2.49). In his last outing, the sophomore from Wimberley took the loss, the first of his career. Last Friday night, he yielded four runs in 3 and 2/3 innings as UAB beat UTSA, 7-3.

Quiroga (5-0 3.92) has emerged as the team’s stopper on Sundays. The senior from Baytown is 4-0 in his last four starts. In three of those starts, he has yielded two or fewer earned runs in six or more innings.

Lytle (with a batting average of .388) ranks second in the AAC in hitting. He and Alexander Olivo (.368), Hill (.354) and King (.333) rank among the AAC’s top nine in average. Olivo batted .462 in four games last week.

Roadrunners shrug off the wind and down the UAB Blazers, 12-3

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James Taussig ties the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI single through the right side. – Video by The JB Replay

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

A howling wind out of the north threatened to turn Sunday’s series finale at Roadrunner Field into a low-scoring pitchers’ duel, but with James Taussig, Caleb Hill and Diego Diaz leading the way, UTSA made the necessary adjustments at the plate and rolled to a 12-3 victory over the UAB Blazers.

With the win, UTSA stayed tied with ninth-ranked East Carolina for first place in the American Athletic Conference race.

Taussig, a 6-foot-6 junior from Houston, went three for three and drove in two runs as the Roadrunners notched their fifth series victory of the season in the AAC. Later, he called it “just another day” as teams showed up at the ballpark with wind gusting into the hitters’ faces in the 30-mph range.

“(Coaches) get us ready every day to hit the right way in these conditions, you know, staying through the ball, staying on top of the ball,” Taussig said. “(We’re) just trying to get maximum bat speed and hit the ball as hard as (we) can. (You) can’t control what the wind does to the ball.”

With temperatures in the 60s for a noon start on the UTSA campus, fans filed into the stadium decked out in sweatshirts and windbreakers, and holding on to their caps, if they were lucky. Flags over the center field fence were flapping furiously.

The game started with an equally chaotic set of circumstances. In the top of the first, UAB coach Casey Dunn was ejected for arguing with the home-plate umpire. In the bottom half, the Roadrunners pushed a runner to third base and scored on a wild pitch.

By the fourth inning, the Blazers had rallied. They plated two runs in the third and one in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. But before long, the Roadrunners started to click. They scored three runs in the fifth and five in the seventh to break the game open.

“We played well,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “It was a tough day to hit with that wind blowing (in) so hard from center. So I was really impressed with our hitting.”

UTSA entered the season intent on making some noise in its first season in the AAC, and Hallmark’s team has done just that, playing five series in conference and winning all of them, beating East Carolina (2-1), Tulane (3-0), Charlotte (2-1), Memphis (2-1) and now UAB (also 2-1).

Asked how impressive it is to have won every series, Hallmark answered modestly and carefully, perhaps knowing that a tough series awaits next weekend at Rice.

“We’re trying to play good ball,” Hallmark said. “We’re trying to control the things we can control, which is, throw strikes, play good defense and fight at the plate. We always boil it back down to those three things. If we do those three things, we’ll deserve to win. We won’t always win. But we’ll deserve to win, and that’s really all we can do.”

Taussig did his part, reaching base five times, with three hits and a couple of walks. Also, two RBI. Hill reached four times on two hits and two walks. He also made the most of each opportunity, scoring four runs. Diaz enjoyed a two for five day with two RBI.

Ulises Quiroga (5-0) pitched six innings to earn the win. He yielded five hits and three runs, though only two of them were earned. Braylon Owens closed by working the final three innings, all scoreless. Combined, the two of them struck out 10, with Quiroga getting six of them.

Blazers starter Colin Daniel (6-3) was saddled with the loss.

Records

UAB 17-21, 5-10
UTSA 24-16, 11-4

Series at a glance

Game 1: UAB defeats UTSA, 7-3
Game 2: UTSA defeats UAB, 7-5
Game 3: UTSA defeats UAB, 12-3

Coming up

Friday, April 26 — UTSA at Rice, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 27 — UTSA at Rice, 2 p.m.
Sunday, April 28 — UTSA at Rice, 1 p.m.

AAC leaders

East Carolina 11-4, 31-8
UTSA 11-4, 24-16

AAC baseball: Surging East Carolina takes a half-game lead on UTSA

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The East Carolina Pirates swept a doubleheader on Saturday and moved into a half-game lead in the American Athletic Conference baseball race over the UTSA Roadrunners.

The ninth-ranked Pirates won 11-7 and 11-4 on their home field to sweep a three-game series from the Wichita State Shockers.

With UTSA preparing to host the UAB Blazers in a series finale in San Antonio on Sunday, here are the updated AAC standings:

American Athletic Conference
Baseball standings

East Carolina 11-4, 31-8
UTSA 10-4, 23-16
Charlotte 8-7, 19-21
Florida Atlantic 7-7, 20-16
South Florida 7-7, 21-18
Wichita State 7-8, 21-20
Tulane 6-8, 21-18
Memphis 6-9, 18-22
UAB 5-9, 17-20
Rice 5-9, 14-25

UTSA downs UAB, 7-5, with series finale set for Sunday

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA on Saturday bounced back from a loss in the series opener and downed the UAB Blazers 7-5 at Roadrunner Field. With the series knotted at one win apiece, UTSA and UAB will play the finale of the three-game set on Sunday at noon.

Caleb Hill, Alex Olivo and Mark Henning each had two hits apiece for the Roadrunners. Hill and Olivo scored twice and Henning had two RBI. Reliever Daniel Garza (3-1) pitched five innings to earn the victory.

With the win, the Roadrunners kept pace with the East Carolina Pirates in the chase for first place in the American Athletic Conference. Later in the day, the Pirates rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the Wichita State Shockers, 11-7.

UTSA and East Carolina are tied for first place at 10-4.

Records

UAB 17-20, 5-9
UTSA 23-16, 10-4

Series at a glance

Game 1: UAB 7, UTSA 3
Game 2: UTSA 7, UAB 5

Coming up

UAB at UTSA, Sunday, noon.

Notable

UTSA’s Mason Lytle was hit on his batting helmet by a pitch in the bottom of the second inning and had to come out of the game briefly. After he was checked out by a trainer, he took the field in the top of the third and played the rest of the game. Lytle leads the Roadrunners with a .388 average.

Roadrunners utility man Isaiah Walker played in a game for the first time since April 5. Sidelined with injuries for much of the season, he came off the bench to pinch hit in the bottom of the third and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the fourth, he entered the defensive alignment at third base. He finished one for two on the day.

The Roadrunners have won all four of their weekend series in the American, and now they’ll try to make it five for five with a victory on Sunday. UTSA has claimed series victories over East Carolina (2-1), Tulane (3-0), Charlotte (2-1) and Memphis (2-1).

Blazers down UTSA, 7-3, to hand Riojas his first loss

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UAB's David Harris scores in the fifth inning to tie the game 3-3. UAB beat UTSA 7-3 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UAB’s David Harris slides in home, scoring from second base in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Nick Hollifield. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Logan Braunschweig and the UAB Blazers beat the hottest pitcher in the American Athletic Conference on Friday night at UTSA. Braunschweig’s two-run double highlighted a three-run ninth inning as the Blazers downed the Roadrunners, 7-3, handing UTSA star Ruger Riojas the first loss of his career.

Riojas (7-1) entered the game undefeated in a season and a half for the Roadrunners. After going 5-0 last year as a freshman, the sophomore righthander from Wimberley is now 12-1. He made his 37th appearance as a collegian in relief in the fifth inning and pitched into the ninth.

Ruger Riojas. UAB beat UTSA 7-3 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Ruger Riojas took the first loss of his UTSA career after yielding four runs on seven hits in 3 and 2/3 innings. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Blazers touched him for four runs on seven hits in 3 and 2/3 innings to win their third straight game, including wins at Rice last Sunday, at 18th-ranked Alabama on Tuesday and now against the team that had been leading the AAC standings.

“The biggest thing for us is, it’s three straight good games we’ve played,” UAB coach Casey Dunn said. “We had a good win last week on Sunday and we carried that over to a good win on Tuesday night against Alabama.

“We came out here and played … error-free baseball, with the exception of the mis-read in the outfield when they were able to score from first on the single. You take that play out of the equation and I thought we played really clean.”

UTSA appeared to have the upper hand after scoring three runs in the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead. With runners at first and third, Hector Rodriguez looped a single into center field. Freshman Diego Diaz, one of the fastest players on the Roadrunners, motored all the way from first and slid in safely.

Alex Olivo followed with an RBI single, but the Roadrunners tried to score a second run on the play but were thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

After the game, Dunn acknowledged that it was significant that they were able to beat Riojas, who entered the game with a 1.91 earned run average, good for third in the conference and 15th in the nation. His seven wins were tied for first with East Carolina star Trey Yesavage.

Robert Orloski. UAB beat UTSA 7-3 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA freshman Robert Orloski gave up three runs, two of them earned, on three hits in 4 and 2/3 innings. He struck out four. – Photo by Joe Aleander

“He’s the guy we talked about,” Dunn said. “I’ve played against (coach) Pat (Hallmark) and his guys for a few years now, and he seems to like his best guys in the bullpen and try to get to ’em in later in games. We talked a lot about it, that if we were going to win, we were going to have to beat that guy, and I thought our guys had a good approach.”

The Blazers already scored once in the fifth inning against UTSA starter Rob Orloski when Riojas entered the game. Trying to protect a 3-2 lead, Riojas threw a fast ball that Nick Hollifield whacked into right field for an RBI single. The game was tied.

In the sixth, Mayes White slapped an RBI single to put UAB on top, 4-3. Riojas settled down and blanked the Blazers in the seventh and eighth innings. But he couldn’t get through the ninth unscathed. With one out and runners at first and second, Braunschweig, a left-side hitter, laced a double down the left field line that scored two runs.

Hollifield followed with an RBI single up the middle for the last run of the game.

Records

UAB 17-19, 5-8
UTSA 22-16, 9-4

Coming up

Saturday: UAB at UTSA, 11 a.m.
Sunday: UAB at UTSA, noon

Hector Rodriguez loops a single into center field in the bottom of the fourth, driving in two runs. Freshman speedster Diego Diaz scores all the way from first base on the play. – Video by Jerry Briggs

Alex Olivo drives in a run with a single through the right side in the bottom of the fourth, but the Roadrunners try to score again on the play and get thrown out at the plate. Rightfielder Tyler Waugh made the throw to catcher Nick Hollifield, who applied the tag on a sliding Mason Lytle. – Video by Jerry Briggs

Ruger Riojas. UAB beat UTSA 7-3 in American Athletic Conference baseball on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander Ruger Riojas went undefeated in his first 36 appearances as a pitcher for the UTSA Roadrunners. After finally taking a loss against the UAB Blazers Friday night, Riojas fell to 7-1 on the season and to 12-1 in his career. – Photo by Joe Alexander

AAC-leading Roadrunners host UAB Blazers in three-game series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The first-place UTSA Roadrunners will host the UAB Blazers this weekend in American Athletic Conference baseball. A three-game series will commence with the opener set for Friday at 6 p.m. First pitch for Game 2 has been moved up to 11 a.m. Saturday to avoid incoming inclement weather. The finale is set for noon on Sunday.

UTSA opened the week on Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In a development that could prove helpful this weekend, pitchers Ryan Ward and Ryan Beaird worked three scoreless innings apiece. Braylon Owens and Ruger Riojas split the last three innings, with Riojas pitching shutout ball for the final 1 and 2/3 innings.

Riojas is 7-0 with six saves. He’s fashioned a 1.91 ERA to go along with an 0.98 WHIP. UTSA’s pitching staff was highly efficient against the Islanders, striking out 12 and walking none.

Mason Lytle and Caleb Hill are leading the UTSA offense. Lytle is among the AAC’s batting average leaders at .398. In addition, he has hit eight home runs and 33 RBI. Hill, meanwhile, is hitting .347 with a team-leading nine homers and 32 RBI.

UAB has had an up-and-down season. But the Blazers enjoyed a big day on Tuesday with a road victory against 18th-ranked Alabama. Blayze Berry, tonight’s projected starter, is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA.

Records

UAB 16-19, 4-8
UTSA 22-15, 9-3

Coming up

Friday: UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday: UAB at UTSA, 11 a.m.
Sunday: UAB at UTSA, noon

AAC standings

UTSA 9-3, 22-15
East Carolina 8-4, 28-8
South Florida 7-5, 21-16
Wichita State 7-5, 21-17
Florida Atlantic 6-6, 19-15
Memphis 6-6, 18-19
Tulane 5-7, 20-17
Charlotte 5-7, 16-21
UAB 4-8, 16-19
Rice 3-9, 12-25

Roadrunners beat the Memphis Tigers to win another road series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Series recap

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

Records

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

Coming up

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

Notable

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

UTSA won the Tulane and Memphis series on the road …

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

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

Correction

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

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

Baseball: First-place UTSA downs Memphis, 9-6, on the road

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners scored four runs in the top of the ninth Friday and then held on to beat the Memphis Tigers 9-6 on the road in the American Athletic Conference.

First, Ty Tilson and Caleb Hill produced RBI singles. Later, the Roadrunners added two more runs when they bunted and forced a throwing error – the Tigers’ third of the inning.

With the victory, the Roadrunners (20-14, 8-2) won their 10th time in their last 13 and maintained a one-game lead in the AAC. They also snapped a four-game winning streak by the Tigers (17-18, 5-5).

UTSA was not a paragon of efficiency in taking the opener of a three-game series. The Roadrunners left 14 runners on base, including nine in scoring position. Memphis, meanwhile, was too mistake prone to take advantage. The Tigers committed six errors.

Offensively for the Roadrunners, Mason Lytle went four for six at the plate and raised his AAC-leading batting average to .409. Hector Rodriguez continued to swing a hot bat, as well, producing three hits.

The Roadrunners used five pitchers to subdue the Tigers. Ruger Riojas (7-0) picked up the win and Daniel Garza got the last two outs with a runner at third base for the save. Reliever Brayden Sanders (1-2) was tagged with the loss for the Tigers.

UTSA led by four runs entering the bottom of the sixth inning and appeared to be on its way to a comfortable victory.

Memphis had other ideas. Pierre Seals promptly delivered with a two-run homer off UTSA reliever Ryan Ward. In the bottom of the seventh, with UTSA ace Ruger Riojas on the mound, Brennan DuBose led off with a solo homer to bring the Tigers to within 5-4. Later, Memphis tied it in the eighth with an unearned run off Riojas.

Daunte Stuart ignited the rally with a one-out single up the middle. After Riojas struck out Jacob Compton, Seals stroked a hit to left field. Stuart rounded second and headed for third and kept on running on a Caleb Hill bobble in left. He scored to make it 5-5.

Leading by two runs, the Roadrunners called on freshman Diego Diaz to pinch hit with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. A left-handed hitter, he burned Tigers lefty reliever JT Durham by slapping a single through the left side to make it 5-1.

Records

UTSA 20-14, 8-2
Memphis 17-18, 5-5

Coming up

Saturday: UTSA at Memphis, 2 p.m.
Sunday, UTSA at Memphis, 1 p.m.

AAC title race

Who’s leading the AAC baseball standings? Let’s see: UTSA is 8-2, followed by East Carolina at 7-3 and Florida Atlantic and South Florida, both 6-4.

Notable

UTSA freshman pitcher Rob Orloski started and retired only one batter and walked three before he was taken out in the first inning. He threw 18 pitches and only five for strikes.

Orloski’s outing followed an impromptu relief appearance Tuesday night in College Station against third-ranked Texas A&M.

At A&M, UTSA called on Orloski in the bottom of the ninth in a game that was tied 5-5. He retired one batter and then gave up a game-winning, solo home run to Jackson Appel. The Aggies rallied to beat the Roadrunners, 6-5.

UTSA sophomore outfielder Tye Odom, the team’s leader in slugging percentage at .630, sat out his fourth straight game as the Roadrunners opened the series against the Tigers.

Baseball: No. 3 Texas A&M walks it off with a solo homer in the ninth to down UTSA, 6-5

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Jackson Appel smashed his third home run of the game with one out in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night, lifting the third-ranked Texas A&M Aggies to a 6-5 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

All three of his homers were hit to the opposite field.

“Wind must have been howling out to left (field) tonight,” joked Appel, as he talked in the postgame on the Texas A&M radio broadcast.

The Aggies struggled for much of the night defensively, making four errors, including two in UTSA’s four-run second inning. The pitching also faltered with three walks and three other batters hit by pitch.

But Appel, a senior catcher from Houston Memorial, helped make up for it with a solo home run in the third, a two-run shot in the fifth and another solo blast in the ninth. The Aggies bullpen also got tough at the end, with Christopher Cortez pitching the last four innings, all scoreless, while striking out seven.

Early on, the Roadrunners stunned the Aggies by putting up four runs in the second inning.

Isaac Morton opened the inning by walking UTSA’s Broc Parmer and James Taussig. With two aboard, UTSA’s Lorenzo Morresi bunted. Morton fielded it and threw wildly for an error that allowed one run to score.

The good fortune for UTSA continued when Hector Rodriguez stroked an infield single. A throwing error by A&M second baseman Travis Chestnut allowed two more runs to cross the plate.

At that point, the Aggies brought in Zane Badmaev to pitch, and he retired Zane Spinn on a swinging third strike. A&M continued its uneven play when Badmaev hit Caleb Hill with a pitch, putting runners at first and second.

One out later, Alex Olivo’s RBI single scored Rodriguez, making it a 4-0 ballgame.

Records

UTSA 19-14
Texas A&M 29-4

Coming up

UTSA is set to play a three-game American Athletic Conference series at Memphis. Friday at 6 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.