San Antonio area athletes in the MLB draft’s first round: From Roger Metzger and Pat Rockett to Kayson Cunningham

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday selected Johnson High School shortstop Kayson Cunningham with the 18th pick on the first round of the Major League Baseball draft.

Cunningham, who has committed to the University of Texas, could command a signing bonus of more than $4 million to turn pro. The value of the 18th pick is $4.58 million, according to the mlb.com website.

Regarded as possibly the best pure hitter among high school prospects in this year’s draft, the 5-foot-10, 182-pounder swings the bat from the left side.

He hit .417 for Team USA during the 18-and-under World Cup qualifier in Panama last summer.

Cunningham slapped the go-ahead hit in the gold medal-clinching victory, and was named as the tournament MVP, according to a story published on the Diamondbacks’ website.

He was also USA Baseball’s Player of the Year in 2024, and this past spring, he was named Gatorade’s Texas High School Player of the Year after hitting .509 in his senior year at Johnson.

According to research conducted by The JB Replay, Cunningham is believed to be the 14th player from the San Antonio area to be selected in the first round of the MLB draft, which started in 1965.

In the draft’s earliest years, the highest pick from the Alamo City was John Langerhans, from South San High School, who in 1968 was taken 36th overall on the second round by the Minnesota Twins.

Infielder Roger Metzger from Holy Cross High School became the first player from the San Antonio area taken in the first round. He was selected 16th overall by the Chicago Cubs in 1969 out of St. Edward’s University. Lee infielder Pat Rockett, who went to the Atlanta Braves in 1973, was the city’s first top 10 pick.

Rockett went No. 10 to the Atlanta Braves in 1973.

Cunningham joins Rockett, John Gibbons, Tyler Gonzales and Forrest Whitley as San Antonio-area players drafted in the first round out of high school.

San Antonio-area players, through the years, selected in the first round:

2025 – Infielder Kayson Cunningham, Johnson High School, 18th overall, to the Arizona Diamondbacks
2022 – Infielder Jace Jung, MacArthur High School, 12th overall, out of Texas Tech University, to the Detroit Tigers
2020 – Pitcher Asa Lacy, Kerrville Tivy, fourth overall, out of Texas A&M, to the Kansas City Royals
2020 — Shortstop Jordan Westburg, New Braunfels, 30th overall, out of Mississippi State, to the Baltimore Orioles (competitive balance Round A).
2019 – Infielder Josh Jung, MacArthur, eighth overall, out of Texas Tech, to the Texas Rangers
2016 – Pitcher Forrest Whitley, Alamo Heights, 17th overall, out of high school, to the Houston Astros
2012 – Tyler Gonzales, Madison, 60th overall (supplemental first round), out of high school, to the Toronto Blue Jays
1997 – Third baseman Brandon Larson, Holmes, 14th overall out of LSU, to the Cincinnati Reds
1997 – Outfielder/first baseman Lance Berkman, New Braunfels Canyon, 16th overall out of Rice University, to the Houston Astros
1989 – Outfielder/first baseman Scott Bryant, Churchill, 20th overall out of the University of Texas, to the Cincinnati Reds
1984 – Pitcher Norm Charlton, Madison, 28th overall, out of Rice University, to the Montreal Expos
1980 – Catcher John Gibbons, MacArthur, 24th overall, out of high school, to the New York Mets
1973 – Infielder Pat Rockett, Lee, 10th overall, out of high school, to the Atlanta Braves
1969 — Infielder Roger Metzger, Holy Cross, 16th overall, out of St. Edward’s University, to the Chicago Cubs

UTSA extends baseball coach Pat Hallmark’s contract through the 2029 season

UTSA baseball will move forward with Head Coach Pat Hallmark recently receiving an extension on his contract through the 2029 season.

The extension, which runs through May 31, 2029, will pay Hallmark a base salary of:

*$350,000 for the 2025-26 year
*$375,000 in ’26-27
*$400,000 in ’27-28
*And, finally, $425,000 in ’28-29.

UTSA announced the agreement on June 17 after the program’s best season, in which Hallmark led the Roadrunners to the Super Regional round of the NCAA playoffs.

Hallmark, the 2025 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, led the Roadrunners to their first NCAA Regional Championship and first Super Regional appearance.

UTSA established a program-best 47 wins and a program-low 15 losses. Hallmark also directed the team to its third-ever conference regular-season championship with a 23-4 mark in The American.

The 2025 Roadrunners re-wrote the program records in:

*Runs scored (530)
*RBI (488)
*On-base percentage (.423)
*Fewest errors (47)
*Fielding percentage (.978)
*At-bats (2,098)
*And, hit by pitches (125).

Hallmark was named UTSA’s head coach on June 16, 2019. He has led the team to a record of 187-111, including four consecutive 30-plus win seasons. The streak ties a UTSA school record.

His career record is 253-159, which includes two season at the University of the Incarnate Word.

UCLA beats UTSA 5-2 in Game 1 of the Los Angeles Super Regional

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Roman Martin delivered a two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night as the the 15th-seeded UCLA Bruins scored a 5-2 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners in Game 1 of the Los Angeles Super Regional.

Playing in the first Super Regional in program history, UTSA jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the co-champions of the Big Ten Conference. Mason Lytle opened the game at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium with a leadoff home run.

In the second inning, the Roadrunners surprised everyone when Caden Miller stole home for the second run of the game.

From there, the Bruins settled down and scored two runs to tie in the third. The big hit was a run-scoring double by Mulivai Levu. In the fourth, UCLA struck again against UTSA starter Zach Royse by loading the bases on three singles. One of them was a slow roller that died on the infield grass near the third-base line.

With bases loaded and one out, Dean West gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly to left.

UCLA pitching turned out to be the story in the middle innings and beyond as UTSA’s prolific offense could generate little momentum. In the end, the Bruins held the Roadrunners scoreless from the third through the ninth. UCLA’s bullpen held UTSA hitless for four of the last five innings.

Starter Michael Barnett (12-1) earned the victory by working six innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Relievers Jack O’Connor, August Souza and Easton Hawk combined to hold the Roadrunners hitless in one inning apiece to close the game. All night, Bruins pitching filled up the strike zone, not walking one batter.

The Roadrunners, who have relied on free passes to manufacture big innings this season, received only one against UCLA — when Barnett plunked Andrew Stucky with a pitch in the second.

It was a heartbreaking day for Royse (9-5). After earning the victory against Kansas State last Friday in the first game of the Austin Regional, he took the loss against the Bruins. He pitched five innings and allowed all three runs on nine hits. Royse struck out three and walked three.

After Connor Kelley entered for Royse in the sixth inning, he struggled and put two runners on base. One with a walk. Another with a hit by pitch. At that point, Rob Orloski entered and retired three straight batters. First, he forced UCLA star Roch Cholowski to pop up, and then he retired Levu and Martin to escape trouble.

Orloski, a sophomore from Idaho, continued to pitch well through the seventh, sending three straight batters back to the dugout. But in the eighth, the UTSA righthander’s control started to falter.

On consecutive batters, he walked Phoenix Call and hit West with a breaking ball, putting runners at first and second. Getting tough again, he retired Cholowski and Levu on a fly ball and an infield pop up, respectively. With two out, he was nearly out of trouble when Martin worked the count to three balls and two strikes.

Ultimately, Martin won the battle, bashing a drive into the gap in right center. UTSA right fielder James Taussig looked like he might have a play on the ball, but it sailed past him, bouncing to the wall as Call scored from third base and West raced all the way around to score from first.

With the victory, UCLA now can clinch a trip to the Men’s College World Series with a victory Sunday. For UTSA to win the Super Regional, it will need to win Sunday and Monday to advance to the eight-team MCWS in Omaha, Neb.

Records

UTSA 47-14
UCLA 46-16

Schedule

Los Angeles Super Regional
Game 2 — UTSA at UCLA, Sunday, 2 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary) — UTSA at UCLA, Monday, TBA

Notable

UTSA’s James Taussig, the most outstanding player in the Austin regional, went hitless on four at bats. He flied out, grounded out twice and struck out in the eighth inning.

The eighth was a big inning for Bruins pitching as Souza, throwing nasty sliders, shut down the top of the Roadrunners’ batting order. He struck out Lytle and Taussig to start the inning and then retired Norris McClure on a ground ball.

Lytle, who finished one for four, entered the Super Regional leading the team with a .369 average. Taussig followed at .358. Taussig has been one of the team’s hottest power threat lately, hitting safely in 25 of 27 games entering the Super Regional.

He also was held without an RBI for only the ninth time in is last 36 games.

Quotable

In the postgame news conference, UTSA coach Pat Hallmark issued an opening statement, saying that the difference in the game was UCLA’s error-free defense and its pitching that didn’t allow a walk.

“I thought UCLA pitched and defended fantastic,” he said. “That was the difference in the game, was their defense. They didn’t give us anything. Zero errors. Zero walks by them. Just tip my hat to those guys, and we’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”

Hallmark credited UCLA starter Michael Barnett for throwing strikes.

“Barnett’s good,” Hallmark said. “The challenge was all the strikes he was throwing. We needed to get him early in the count and we just didn’t. We just fouled ’em off, or we didn’t just quite smash it early in the count.

“He did a really good job throwing strikes early in the count, and then once he gets ahead, if you don’t smash one of those early ones, he’s not going to throw you one centered when he’s ahead. So, hitting becomes harder.”

After midnight, in a hilltop town in Italy, Lorenzo Morresi’s parents cheered for the Roadrunners

UTSA's Lorenzo Morresi playing against Texas in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional on Saturday, May 31, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Lorenzo Morresi thrilled members of his family back home in Macerata, Italy, as he reached base six times and scored five runs in three games for the UTSA Roadrunners at the NCAA Austin Regional. By winning in Austin, UTSA has advanced to the Super Regional round against UCLA. The best-of-three series starts Saturday in Los Angeles. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Lorenzo Morresi grew up in Italy, in the town of Macerata, located about 100 miles to the north and east of Rome and about 30 miles to the west of the Adriatic Sea.

Soccer is king in Italy. Always has been, and, probably always will be.

But somewhere in the city of Macerata, in an apartment inhabited by a couple of hard-working grocery shop owners, at least one television set was dialed in last weekend to the NCAA Austin Regional baseball tournament.

As Morresi played perhaps the tournament of his young life for the UTSA Roadrunners, his father and mother stayed up late to watch and cheer him on. How late?

“They were, like, sleeping and watching,” Morresi told The JB Replay Wednesday afternoon. “They were back home in Italy. They were trying to stay up to watch the game. Because, at 6 p.m. (in Texas), it’s like 1 a.m. over there.”

UTSA's Lorenzo Morresi playing against Kansas State in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional on Friday, May 30, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Lorenzo Morresi has worked his way back into the playing rotation after battling injuries during the season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

If one or both of his parents dozed off during the games, it would be understandable.

Morresi said in an interview under the oak trees at Roadrunner Field that his mom and dad run a business in Macerata.

In a town of about 40,000 that sits on a hilltop between two rivers in central Italy — the Chienti and the Potenza — Morresi’s parents manage a fruit and vegetable shop.

So, given the effort required in their day job, combined with the thrill of watching NCAA tournament games after midnight, some level of exhaustion would be expected from Valter and Nadia Morresi.

Morresi assured that his dad, a former baseball player, was definitely tuned in.

Valter Morresi, as his son pointed out, played the game from a young age, as a second baseman, primarily.

His son, one of the unsung heroes of UTSA’s historic victory in the Austin Regional, said his dad continued to play past his youth on club teams — until he was 29 years old.

“He loves baseball,” Lorenzo Morresi said. “He wanted to be here (in Texas) so bad, to watch us play.”

Valter Morresi likely was thrilled with what he saw on ESPN, regardless, because his son put on quite a show.

He had five hits in 12 at bats in the regional tournament, including three hits in two games against the Texas Longhorns, the No. 2 team in the NCAA tournament.

As his parents know, it was a show of perseverance. Also, as everyone in the UTSA dugout knows, it was an equally gritty display of resilience and skill.

Working toward a baseball dream

Lorenzo Morresi didn’t get the same start in baseball that most of his teammates did. There was no travel ball, no high school ball, in Italy. There was only club ball to hone his skills.

UTSA's Lorenzo Morresi playing against Texas in the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional on Saturday, May 31, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Lorenzo Morresi, a switch hitter at the plate, has seen action recently at catcher, designated hitter and first base with the Roadrunners. His father, Valter, played baseball through age 29 in Italy. He played second base. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Despite all that, he showed enough promise as a teenager to start getting feelers from college coaches in the United States.

But just as he started to flourish as a player, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Lorenzo was in Macerata, shuttered at home with his family for about five months in 2020.

People were allowed to go out for essentials only once a day, Morresi said.

Because of the pandemic and the after-shocks felt throughout Italy, the young ball player didn’t get to start his college career in America until the 2021-22 school year at New Mexico Junior College.

Regardless, Morresi found his groove in Hobbs, N.M.. Playing for Coach Mike Robbins, he .341 as a freshman and .365 as a sophomore.

In between those seasons, he received another opportunity to improve in the form or an invitation to play internationally — for his country.

In July of 2022, he traveled to the Netherlands to play for Team Italy in the 30th edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week.

The two-week experience was a memorable one in that he played for manager Mike Piazza, whose bust can be found in Cooperstown at The Baseball Hall of Fame.

Piazza, who spent about a month in 1992 in San Antonio with the Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated Missions, went on to star for 16 years in the majors, most prominently for the Dodgers and for the New York Mets. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

At UTSA, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Morresi is one of a growing number of Italian-born ball players taking an interest in the game. With the Roadrunners, he has played for the past two seasons, mostly at catcher.

This season has been a struggle for him in that he has been limited to 26 of UTSA’s 60 games while battling through injuries.

A sore back, in particular, had been an issue in the middle of the season. Regardless, Morresi stayed with it and did his best to remain positive.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark has made use of a wealth of depth on his roster. Hallmark’s team is 47-13 going into the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“It’s been a tough season,” he acknowledged. “I tried to stay focused, like, (stay) up mentally and don’t lose the focus. And then, like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go win.’ ”

After working his way back to health, Morresi gradually gained a foothold in the playing rotation recently. Though he’s made only sporadic appearances through the season, he has started in the last six games, playing a mix at catcher, designated hitter and first base.

For the season, he’s hitting a modest .287, but ever since UTSA’s second game in the American Athletic Conference tournament, one of Italy’s finest has been on the field each day for the Roadrunners, spraying the ball around and hitting .333.

Moreover, as UTSA won an NCAA regional for the first time in program history last weekend, he started at first base in all three games and, at the plate, he got himself on base six times, scoring five runs in the process.

Putting on a show

His batting average in Austin?

It was .412, on five for 12. Memorably, he went two for three with an RBI in a 10-2 victory over Kansas State. He also stole two bases to set a UTSA single-game record in NCAA postseason games.

Next, he was one for four with a run scored in a 9-7 victory over the Texas Longhorns, the second-seeded team in the NCAA tournament. Finally, he had two hits and a run scored in five at bats in a 7-4 clincher against the Longhorns.

In UTSA’s biggest test in 34 years of baseball, Morresi hit the ball hard just about every time he came to the plate How did he do it? Considering the amount of time he sat on the bench earlier in the season, how was it possible?

“It’s just part of the job,” the 23-year-old switch hitter said. “Like, I’m going to do my job. Put the ball in play. Play hard. Try to win the game. It’s part of the job. It’s nothing, like, crazy.”

Morresi said he was locked in mentally with what he had to do each day in Austin, though he did acknowledge feeling an adrenaline rush once, when he noticed all the Roadrunners and Longhorns fans in attendance at jam-packed Disch-Falk Field.

“The first inning, in the first game against the Longhorns, I was just like looking around,” he said. “And I saw so many people. And I said, ‘That’s beautiful.’ Like, I should not feel pressure. I should just enjoy it and then do my job.

“It’s like, I’m here for that.”

UTSA pitcher Gunnar Brown. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Like Lorenzo Morresi, pitcher Gunnar Brown is another player with a limited role a few months ago to emerge as a key player in the postseason. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Morresi’s story this season is not unlike those of some of his teammates. Designated hitter Garrett Gruell didn’t play consistently during the season. Neither did Gunnar Brown. But Morresi, Gruell and Brown all figured prominently last weekend.

The depth of talent on the roster, in fact, is something that defines the Roadrunners as much as their ability to score runs and play defense.

Perhaps it’s because of the bond between players and coaches. There seems to be a certain trust factor with the coaches, even from players who aren’t on the field every day.

“There are so many people in the locker room on this ride who aren’t getting base hits or throwing pitches, but the quality of them as people is so genuine and real,” Head Coach Pat Hallmark told Sean Cartell at goutsa.com. “These kids are pretty good at baseball, and here they are sitting on the bench for us and so supportive of everything we’re doing.

“When they’re 40 years old, I’ll think of them as much as the guys doing the actual game-playing. That’s why I coach.”

Morresi said players just tend to pull together and stay engaged even if they aren’t playing regularly.

“There’s always … part of me that will say, like, I have to work hard and be ready to play, no matter what the situation,” he said. “It could happen sometimes that I don’t play. Or that somebody else don’t play. But, it is what it is. You got to be ready for everything, I would say.”

During his junior college days in New Mexico, Morresi acknowledged that he had choices when it came to deciding where to play at the next level of college baseball.

“But as soon as I got here and talked to coach Hallmark and coach (Ryan) Aguayo … I knew I wanted to be here,” he said. “I felt like I could get better here.”

As for the upcoming Super Regional against UCLA in Los Angeles this weekend, it stands as a curious twist on baseball history that Morresi will be taking his game from San Antonio to the West Coast, so to speak.

It’s the same path that Piazza, his former mentor in international ball, took when he was promoted from the Missions to play for Tommy Lasorda and the Dodgers in 1992. Morresi said he didn’t realize that Piazza played in the minors in San Antonio.

“But that is pretty cool,” he said, “that there’s a link between us.”

This week, the Roadrunners have tried to prepare as they always do, getting ready for a best-of-three series against the No. 15 national seed Bruins.

On Wednesday, they went through a three-hour practice on a hot and muggy day. They left town for the West Coast on Thursday. Morresi said the message this week from the coach to the players has been the same as usual.

“It’s like, practice hard, play hard,” he said. “Try to win every game. Every pitch. Every situation.”

The Super Regional opens on Saturday at 6 p.m. central time at Jackie Robinson Stadium on the UCLA campus. Game Two is set for 2 p.m. Sunday. A third game, if necessary, would be played Monday. The winner will earn a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

For Morresi, some pressing questions loom. Will his parents, Valter and Nadia, need to watch on TV again, or can they make the trip? It’s possible they might make it to Los Angeles, he said Wednesday afternoon.

Also, can UTSA continue its wild ride and win two in Los Angeles … to reach Omaha?

“Our expectations are to compete and win,” Morresi said. “We cannot control winning, but, like, we are going there to win and play hard. We’re not going there just for a vacation. We’re going there because we want to go to Omaha. It’s our goal.”

UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

A multi-Roadrunner celebration breaks out on the field after UTSA clinches the NCAA Austin Regional. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Shocking the world? UTSA beats Texas to claim the NCAA Austin Regional baseball title

UTSA's Rob Orloski celebrates after getting the final out. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Rob Orloski celebrates after getting the final out Sunday night. By beating Texas for the second straight night to claim the NCAA Austin Regional title, Roadrunners will advance to the Super Regional round of the playoffs for the first time. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

AUSTIN — The UTSA Roadrunners have played in only four NCAA regional baseball tournaments, compared to 62 for the Texas Longhorns.

The Roadrunners have competed in baseball for 34 seasons, and the Longhorns, by comparison, have appeared in the College World Series a record 38 times. UTSA plays in a facility in San Antonio that doesn’t measure up to many anywhere, at any level, while Texas plays at Disch-Falk Field, one of the most iconic venues in the NCAA.

In that regard, after the Roadrunners swept three games to win the Austin Regional, including two straight over the Longhorns, it wasn’t surprising that Pat Hallmark was asked if he thought he had just shocked the world.

UTSA's Norris McClure hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

UTSA’s Norris McClure ripped a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to boost UTSA into a 2-0 lead. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I don’t know,” UTSA’s sixth-year head coach said. “Maybe the college baseball world, a little bit. I don’t want to go too much into that, but we’ll shock the world when we win the whole thing. That would shock the world. But, like (UTSA outfielder James Taussig) said (Saturday) night, he said, ‘Three more (wins) to Omaha.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, he’s right.’ And he said tonight, ‘Two more.’

“So, I don’t know if we (have) shocked the world or not. We surprised a few people. But people that have seen us all year, these guys (in the San Antonio media) that have seen us all year, I don’t know that they are totally shocked. Again, we beat the Longhorns. I did not know we were going to do this. I knew we had a chance.

“But, (Texas’) Jim Schlossnagle is an amazing coach, and this is the University of Texas, so … ”

So, yes, the Roadrunners surprised many in Hallmark’s profession by what happened here in the last 72 hours. In succession, they downed Kansas State, Texas and Texas again. Three straight victories over teams in Power 4 conferences, and they capped off the run with a 7-4 victory Sunday night in the regional finals.

As a result, the Roadrunners advance to meet the NCAA tournament’s 15th-seeded UCLA Bruins in the Super Regional round.

UTSA will play this weekend in Los Angeles at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium. The series is best of three, with the winner earning a trip to Omaha, Neb., for the Men’s College World Series. Schlossnagle, whose team was the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament at large, told reporters that UTSA is capable of winning in the super regionals and then making a run at the eight-team MCWS.

“Congratulations to UTSA,” Schlossnagle said. “As I told coach Hallmark at home plate, that’s not a fly-by-night team. That’s a real team. That’s an Omaha-caliber club in every way.

“They play a lot of different brands of baseball. They can pitch. Like I said the other night, they have a persona about ’em. A winning persona. We gave ’em too many free bases there in one inning. (Ty) Hodge got the big two-out hit. We just didn’t bunch our hits. We didn’t have some balls fall in. (Mason) Lytle made an awesome play in center field.

Ty Hodge had a three-run double in the third inning. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Ty Hodge smashed a three-run double in the five-run third inning, which boosted the Roadrunners into a 7-0 lead. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I was proud of the way our guys competed. We’re pretty banged up, which every team is. Really proud of our team. As I just told ’em, no disrespect to teams in the past, but this is the first (Texas) team that’s ever had to play through the SEC (the Southeastern Conference). To be an SEC champion and to host a regional…We all understand Omaha is where we want to (finish). We were 44-14 in our league. It doesn’t make it a bad season.”

UTSA, on the other hand, will carry a somewhat mind-boggling 47-14 record into Los Angeles.

Norris McClure hit a two-run home run and Hodge had a three-run double early to back the pitching of starter Gunnar Brown as the second-seeded UTSA Roadrunners beat the No. 1 regional seed Longhorns for the third time this season.

With the latest win, the Roadrunners clinched a regional title and qualified for the super regionals for the first time in their history. Before this season, UTSA had never won more than 39 games in a season and had finished 0-2 in three previous trips to the regional round.

The Roadrunners jumped on the Longhorns in the first inning to get off to a fast start. After Taussig drew a one-out walk, McClure smoked a line drive off Hudson Hamilton that sailed over the right field wall for a two-run homer. Hamilton was making his first start of the season. When McClure’s homer landed somewhere on Comal Street outside of “The Disch,” UTSA had a 2-0 lead.

For the Longhorns, the bottom of the third was pure agony.

The Roadrunners bunched two singles and two batters hit by pitch for a 3-0 lead. Officials reviewed when UTSA’s Jordan Ballin was plunked, apparently to see if he leaned into it, but he original call was upheld and Ballin had himself an RBI. At that juncture, Texas made a pitching change, bringing in Max Grubbs.

Grubbs, one of the Longhorns’ top arms out of the bullpen, found immediate trouble when Hodge drilled a ball to center field. It carried past the centerfielder, all the way to the wall, and the Roadrunners scored three runs on the play. After Andrew Stucky was hit by a pitch, Mason Lytle stroked an RBI single through the left side.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Pat Hallmark will lead the 47-13 UTSA Roadrunners to the West Coast this weekend for a date in the NCAA Super Regional against the UCLA Bruins. – Photo by Joe Alexabder

UTSA had its fifth run of the inning and a 7-0 lead.

Pitching and defense also emerged as highlights in perhaps one of UTSA’s biggest moments in the history of its athletic department.

After the Roadrunners had used weekend starters Zach Royse, Braylon Owens and Conor Myles on Friday and Saturday, coaches called on Brown, who was making only his fourth start of the season. He entered the national spotlight with a 7.85 ERA. Brown, from Episcopal High School in Houston, earned the victory and improved his record to 4-2 with five innings of work. He allowed only one run on six hits, walking two and striking out four.

Connor Kelley pitched one inning and Robert Orloski, a one-time draft pick by the Boston Red Sox out of Middleton, Idaho, closed out Texas in the final three innings. Orloski gave up a run in the eighth on a solo homer by Kimble Schuessler. He also yielded two in the ninth on a two-run blast by Max Belyeu.

Roadrunners’ fans might also remember for a long time two outfield defensive gems, one by Taussig, the Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player, and another by Lytle. In the top of the third, Schuessler smashed a ball that sailed into the right center gap. Taussig had to run hard just to get in position to catch it, but he did, reaching up and grabbing it back-handed while still on the move.

UTSA pitcher Gunnar Brown. UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA pitcher Gunnar Brown (4-2) earned the win by working five innings. He allowed one run on six hits. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Next, he pivoted and fired the ball back toward the infield. Ballin caught the cutoff, wheeled and fired from just outside the infield area to McClure. Rylan Galvan, who was attempting to advance from second to third, was out on the play. So, instead of Texas potentially scoring a run on an extra-base hit to make it 2-1, UTSA shut down a rally on a hair-raising double play and turned it into a scoreless inning.

In the top of the fourth, Lytle may have made the catch of the season for UTSA. After Texas freshman Adrian Rodriguez opened the inning with a double off the right field wall, Casey Borba followed with a double of his own to left, driving in Rodriguez to make it 7-1.

Next, San Antonio’s Jalin Flores stepped to the plate. Flores had been struggling in the tournament, but he smashed a ball into center field that looked like extra bases, for sure. Lytle, a speedster, had other ideas. He darted two his left on a flat-out sprint, kept churning and eventually laid out parallel to the ground to snare the ball for an out, skidding into the wall at the end of the play.

Jonah Williams followed for Texas, reaching base on a fielding error by Hodge, the only miscue of the day by UTSA. But Brown steadied himself and retired two straight to end the threat. First, he got Will Gasparino on a ground ball and Ethan Mendoza on a fly to right.

Notable

UTSA played the game without leftfielder Drew Detlefsen, the team’s home run and RBI leader. Detlefsen tweaked a hamstring during Saturday’s 9-7 victory over Texas.

Rightfielder James Taussig was named the regional’s most outstanding player in a vote by credentialed media. Taussig, Hodge and Lytle made the all-tournament team as position players, while Braylon Owens and Zach Royse made it as pitchers.

The Roadrunners started the season with a 1-3 record but have turned it around to go 46-10 record since Feb. 22. They are 24-5 since an April 1 loss on the road at TCU.

Austin Regional

UTSA went 3-0 to win it. Texas was the runner up at 2-2. Kansas State finished 1-2 and Houston Christian 0-2. The Roadrunners defeated Kansas State 10-2 on Friday night and Texas 9-7 on Saturday before downing Texas 7-4 in the finals. Texas scored an opening-day 7-1 victory over Houston Christian, lost to UTSA and then eliminated Kansas State, 15-8, on Sunday morning just to reach the finals.

For Texas, it was the first time since 2007 that the team failed to win an Austin Regional. That tournament was held in Round Rock. It was the first time it failed to win an Austin Regional at Disch-Falk Field since 2006.

UCLA notable

The Bruins (45-16) cruised through the Los Angeles Regional by beating Fresno State, Arizona State and UC Irvine by a combined 38-14.

It is UCLA’s first trip to the super regional round since 2019 and its seventh overall since the tournament expanded for the 1999 season. Last season, the Bruins won only 19 games.

John Savage is in his 21st season as UCLA’s head coach. Under Savage, the Bruins reached the MCWS in 2010, 2012 and also in 2013, when they won the national title.

UCLA gets to play UTSA on is home field, where it is 29-7 this season. Bruins shortstop Roch Chowlowsky was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Chowlosky has a .370 average, 23 home runs and 72 RBI. Mulivai Levu bats .321 with 12 homers and a team-leading 84 RBI.

Roman Martin had a productive Los Angeles Regional, going six for 15 with two home runs and eight RBI.

Michael Barnett, Landon Stump and Ian May lead the team in innings pitched. Barnett is 11-1 with a 4.18 ERA. Stump is 6-1, 4.80 and May 7-3, 5.00. Jack O’Connor is 3-0 and 1.88 out of the bullpen. UCLA and Oregon tied for first in the Big Ten at 22-8.

UTSA players charge the field after clinching the NCAA Austin Regional title. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA beat Texas 7-4 on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to win the NCAA baseball tournament Austin Regional. - Photo by Joe Alexander

A multi-Roadrunner celebration breaks out on the field after UTSA clinches the NCAA Austin Regional. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Baseball: Liddington homers twice as UIW ends UTSA’s 14-game winning streak

Rob Liddington Jr. produced six RBIs Tuesday night with two home runs and a double, powering the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals past UTSA 8-5 at Roadrunner Field.

Liddington, from Phoenix, Ariz., was nearly a one-man wrecking crew as UIW snapped UTSA’s school-record 14-game winning streak.

He hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth inning, which was followed immediately by a Rey Mendoza solo homer. Liddington added a three-run double in the fifth and then followed with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Lefthander Gus McKay (1-0) pitched seven innings to earn the victory.

Keeping the Roadrunners off balance with a breaking pitch and a moving fastball, McKay allowed three runs — two of them earned — on four hits. He walked three, hit five batters and struck out three.

UIW righty Jonah Posey was charged with two runs on two hits in closing out the game in the eighth and ninth innings.

UTSA righthander James Hubbard (1-2) worked the first four and a third innings and was tagged with the loss. He yielded six runs, four of them earned, on seven hits.

Trailing by six runs after Liddington belted his team-leading ninth homer of the season in the eighth inning, the Roadrunners rallied with two outs to score three times in the bottom half.

James Taussig laced a two-run single to left and Mason Lytle added another hit for an RBI to make it 8-5.

At that point, Posey ended the threat when he got Drew Detlefsen to ground into a force play. In the ninth, Posey retired three straight to close out the game.

With the win, UIW improved to 9-8 on the season and 1-4 on the road. UTSA dropped to 15-4 and 13-1 at home.

Records

Incarnate Word 9-8
UTSA 15-4

Coming up

UIW at Tarleton State, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
UTSA at Dallas Baptist, Friday, 6 p.m.

Notable

The Cardinals’ last win in the series between San Antonio’s two NCAA Division I baseball programs came at their home ball park in April of 2023 when Rey Mendoza hit a three-run, walk-off homer for a 9-6 victory.

Last season, UTSA beat UIW twice, once on the road and once at home. After Tuesday night’s game, the Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 20-13.

UTSA is 13-7 at home against UIW. The Cardinals’ last win at Roadrunner Field came in 2016.

Baseball: UTSA routs Texas Southern to set a school record with 13 straight victories

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

A game that started in warm and breezy conditions in the early innings turned into a struggle against the elements late as the sun went down, the temperature dropped and the wind kicked up into a bitter bluster.

UTSA baseball head coach Pat Hallmark. At UTSA media day at Roadrunner Field, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2005. - Photo by Joe Alexander.

Coach Pat Hallmark’s UTSA Roadrunners are 14-3 on the season after winning 13 games in a row. – File photo by Joe Alexander

For the UTSA Roadrunners, they took it all in stride as they broke a 31-year-old school record with their 13th straight victory. The previous record was 12 wins in a row established during the 1994 season.

“It’s nice to set records,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said after a 14-5 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers at Roadrunner Field. “We weren’t talking much about it. I didn’t even know until yesterday. (UTSA baseball information director) Kaden (Chumbley) told me about it yesterday.

“My wife asked me yesterday before I left the house. She said, ‘How many more until the record?’ I said, ‘I don’t know,’ and she didn’t believe me. I said, ‘I really don’t.’ But it’s wonderful. Yeah, setting records is a good thing.”

Drew Detlefsen scored four runs and Ty Hodge added three, while both of them matched Cade Sadler with three hits apiece for the Roadrunners. Sadler, Detlefsen, Mason Lytle and James Taussig each notched two RBI.

UTSA (14-3, including 12-0 at home) also benefited from slick defensive plays in the late innings, when weather conditions were at their worst, by freshman infielders Caden Miller and Jordan Ballin.

With three runs in and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, the Tigers were rallying. Miller, at first base for the Roadrunners, gloved a one-out Jaden Jones ground ball and threw home for the force out to prevent a run.

Reliever Connor Kelley then finished the inning with a strikeout, fanning Jaden Flores, to end the threat. The sequence allowed UTSA to maintain an 11-5 lead and not give Texas Southern any more momentum.

In the top of the seventh, Ballin delivered with an athletic play to stuff the Tigers once again.

With a runner at first base, the UTSA shortstop ranged toward the middle to glove a Jonathan Trejo ground ball, stayed on his toes to tag the bag at second and then fired to first to complete a double play.

“Two freshman that are good defenders,” Hallmark said, “and they’re good hitters, too. Happy to have them. We need that good defense all year, so hopefully we keep getting it.”

Roadrunners’ pitching held the Tigers to seven hits — all singles — and survived a few rough patches to aid the cause.

Conor Myles, Sam Simmons, Connor Kelley and Kendal Dove combined to strike out 12 while walking only four. Dove (1-0) earned the victory by pitching scoreless ball and fanning two over the last two innings.

Meanwhile, the Tigers walked 14, hit a batter and threw three wild pitches in a game that lasted three hours and 30 minutes. Texas Southern starter Kewan Braziel (1-4) took the loss after yielding five runs in two and a third innings.

UTSA will try for a series sweep against Texas Southern on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.

Records

Texas Southern 4-11
UTSA 14-3

Coming up

Texas Southern at UTSA, Sunday, 2 p.m.

Notable

The 1994 UTSA baseball team, coached by Jimmy Shankle, finished with a 39-18 record in the program’s third year of existence. The Roadrunners won the postseason title in the Southland Conference and became the first in school history to play in the NCAA baseball tournament.

UTSA has won four games against Long Island, one each against Houston Christian and Oakland, Mich., four against Youngstown State, one against 14th-ranked Texas A&M and now two against Texas Southern in its 13-game streak.

In the Roadrunners’ 12-0 streak at home, they’ve outscored opponents 138-36.

Baseball: UTSA wins 12-2, rolling past Texas Southern for school record-tying 12th straight win

Mason Lytle.

UTSA leadoff man Mason Lytle clubbed a three-run home run to highlight a five-run second inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Mason Lytle, Drew Detlefsen and Ty Hodge all homered in a 14-hit attack Friday night, allowing the UTSA Roadrunners to tie a 31-year-old school record with their 12th straight win, a 12-2 decision over the Texas Southern Tigers.

The game was called on the run rule in the seventh inning after back-to-back homers from Detlefsen and Hodge.

With the victory, the Roadrunners improved their record to 11-0 at home at Roadrunner Field. They have outscored opponents 124-31 in games played at home, including seven ended on the run rule.

Zach Royse. UTSA baseball beat Texas Southern 12-2 in seven innings on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA starter Zach Royse struck out nine in five innings. Allowing one run on three hits, he picked up the first win of his three-year UTSA career – Photo by Joe Alexander

Starting pitcher Zach Royse pitched five innings to notch the first win of his college career.

Throwing a nasty slider, he struck out nine and walked one while allowing one run on three hits. Royse is turning heads this season with 28 strikeouts in 21 and 2/3 innings, not to mention an earned run average that has dipped to 2.70.

Offensively, the Roadrunners were electric once again, with five players picking up multiple hits. Lytle, the leadoff man, went two for five and had five RBI.

He belted a three-run homer to left off Texas Southern starter Calvin McClendon to highlight a five-run second inning. McLendon lasted only two and a third innings and took the loss. He allowed nine runs, seven of them earned, on eight hits.

Records

Texas Southern 4-10
UTSA 13-3

Coming up

Texas Southern at UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Notable

The Roadrunners returned to open a three-game series against Texas Southern in the wake of a 7-4 road victory at 14th-ranked Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer Garrett Gruell went three for four with two RBI in his first game of the season for UTSA. Gruell batted in the No. 9 spot as the designated hitter.

UTSA baseball coach is serving a two-game suspension

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

A UTSA spokesman said in a text that baseball coach Pat Hallmark will serve the second game of a two-game suspension when his team plays on the road tonight at the 14th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

The coach was hit with the suspension after his ejection from the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Youngstown State Penguins.

Hallmark served the first game of the suspension on Sunday in the Roadrunners’ victory at home over the Penguins in a weekend series finale.

UTSA swept four games from Youngstown State over the weekend, extending its winning streak to 10 and running its record to 11-3.

The Roadrunners played four games on the road to start the season and went 1-3. Returning home to play their next 10, the Roadrunners won all of them.

The Aggies, ranked No 1 in the preseason, have dropped four straight games, falling to 6-4 and to 14th in the D1 Baseball rankings.

Texas A&M defeated UTSA 6-5 last year in College Station on a bottom of the ninth-inning solo home run by Jackson Appel off Robert Orloski.

The Roadrunners led 5-1 after four innings and couldn’t hold on.

UTSA baseball wins its sixth straight, defeating Oakland, Mich., 13-3

Mason Lytle. UTSA beat Oakland (Michigan) 13-3 on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander.

UTSA center fielder Mason Lytle makes a catch Wednesday night against Oakland, Mich. Lytle doubled twice in a three-hit performance and drove in three runs as the Roadrunners beat the the Golden Grizzlies, 13-3. With the win, the team’s sixth straight, UTSA improved to 7-3. – Photo by Joe Alexander