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When a door closes, somewhere, a window opens

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Tom Reiter (right) and friend John Conway are expected to leave Sunday on a trip to Scotland for the British Open. Reiter will chronicle his trip to St. Andrews for The JB Replay.

Editor’s note: Good morning, all. Today, you’ll be treated to a piece from my old friend Tom Reiter, who discusses the genesis of his upcoming trip to the British Open.

In his essay, he quotes from a wide range of pop culture icons. From Charles Schulz, the “Peanuts” comic-strip creator. Also, from the soundtrack to a 1965-movie classic, “The Sound of Music.” For the kicker, he throws in a line from “The A-Team,” a 1980s-era action television series.

I hope you enjoy Tom’s work. The 70-year-old North Carolinian is scheduled to take a commercial flight on Sunday morning — winging his way to New York and then on to Scotland — for next week’s 150th anniversary of The Open Championship.

By Tom Reiter
Special to The JB Replay

It was a dark and stormy night (sorry, Snoopy) when the first seeds of a plan were planted in my brain. On April 6, 2020, I read the following statement issued by organizers of the British Open: The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. The Championship will next be played at Royal St George’s in 2021.

Was it possible that as the pandemic sowed quite a bit of uncertainty and some fear into our lives, the R&A was throwing me a lifeline? As a long time sports fan, I was suffering through a myriad of cancellations. NCAA Women’s Final Four tickets purchased a year before now became just another piece of memorabilia. My brackets were as unfilled as my desire to attend the basketball festivities in New Orleans.

If I were a comic strip character, a balloon above my head would depict either a tree branch about to fall or a light bulb shining brightly, because an idea was about to form. An idea that could sustain me through this epic plague, along with shots and booster shots. The R&A’s announcement, to me, was a lifebuoy thrown from the deck of a ship. I grabbed it and was reminded of a line from ‘The Sound of Music,’ as Maria von Trapp exclaims, “When The Lord closes a door, somewhere, He opens a window.” For many, a door closed when the 2020 Open Championship was cancelled. But for me a window opened, a window that I would jump through for the next 26 months.

A plan begins to form

Although I only taught English for some 40 odd years, I was very proud of my math skills and those skills immediately went to work following cancellation of the 2020 Open. In assessing the situation, I noted that the 150th Open Championship would no longer be played at Royal St. George’s in 2021 but at St. Andrews in 2022. It was fate. In my 70th year, I was going to the birthplace of golf.

As a good buddy of mine was fond of saying, “Wishing it don’t make it so.” I quickly realized there would be many hurdles to clear and I’m no Edwin Moses. First and foremost I had to determine if my dream was even feasible. Heading straight to my computer, my Internet search began. Getting tickets was going to be through a worldwide lottery and I certainly did not want to leave my journey up to chance. I wanted a guarantee, so I started looking at packages. Narrowing it down to two companies was easy. I found two — Voyages Golf and Golfbreaks. Both were licensed by the R&A to offer packages to The Open. The cost was similar so I decided to go with the one headquartered in the USA, Golfbreaks.

After several phone calls, I had decided on a package that would give me a week’s lodging in Dundee (breakfast included) and a Wednesday-Sunday ticket to the championship all for just under $3000, based on double occupancy. Okay, one hurdle jumped; it was feasible. Hurdle number two was my wife of nearly 50 years. Rather than beat around the bush, I just explained why I wanted to go (although not a golf fan, she did know about the British Open and St. Andrews) and how much it would set us back. How could I forget her wonderful reply, “Just get someone to go with you because I’m not.” Hurdle number two jumped but perhaps the toughest hurdle loomed directly ahead. How do I find someone as crazy about this idea as I am?

My two best buds were still in New York. Chris, a teacher and colleague of mine before I retired and John who I worked and coach with for a dozen years and like me had recently retired. I sent them a link to my Golfbreaks package. I didn’t ask either John or Chris to join me, but rather I was just sharing my trip with them.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read John’s text which simply said, “I’m in.” Two days later and a $600 deposit by each of us we were locked in to the 150th Open at St. Andrews. As Hannibal Smith on “The A Team” often announced, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Tally ho! Former San Antonio student journalist prepares for a dream trip to the British Open

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By Tom Reiter
Special to The JB Replay

I’m guessing right about now some of you may be wondering who I am and why this is appearing in this particular blog. I’d like to say “I’m Jean Val Jean” or that, “I am just a poor boy and my story seldom told,” but those monikers have already been taken by Les Miserables and Simon Garfunkel. In reality, I’m Tom Reiter, a 70-year-old retired English teacher and a transplanted New Yorker living in Charlotte, N.C. Now why my words of wisdom are appearing in this particular blog is a much longer story and it goes back nearly half a century. May I have a little flashback music please.

Tom Reiter once served as editor of The Ranger, the student newspaper at San Antonio College. Reiter, a retired school teacher living in North Carolina, will chronicle his trip to the 150th British Open for The JB Replay.

After serving my country honorably for four years in the United States Air Force, I found myself living in a country very unfamiliar to me, Texas. My new bride still had two more years to serve at Lackland AFB, so I decided to restart my education. I found a community college on San Pedro Avenue and that is where I met this funny sounding person, Jerry Briggs.

I had this crazy idea that I could be a sportswriter so I took some journalism courses at San Antonio College and began writing for its award winning newspaper The Ranger. Jerry, being the sports editor, took me under his wing. Jerry and I did some great things together, and I must admit some crazy things (driving three hours to see our men’s basketball team play San Jacinto might have been one of those things).

As Robert Frost penned, “As way leads to way,” a year later we took two different paths. Jerry became a Texas Longhorn and later steered (get it) himself to the San Antonio Express-News and the San Antonio Light and I headed to New York scrapping my sports writing plans to become a teacher.  Although separated by 2,000 miles we managed to see each other now and then. I was in Texas for his wedding (I still don’t know what Paula sees in him) and we got together when his work covering the Spurs and the Houston Oilers brought him to the East Coast. Well, back in October Mary and I once again visited Jerry and Paula.  45 years older, but still talking funny, Jerry and I sipped a few brews and when I mentioned I was going to The Open Championship  (dramatic music please) the blog idea was created. So basically, if you’re reading this and it makes you nauseous, blame Jerry not me.

Editor’s note: Tom’s stories will appear periodically this month in The JB Replay. The British Open is set for July 14-17 in Scotland. The tournament will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews, which is considered the oldest golf layout in the world.

UTSA set to join the American Athletic Conference in July 2023

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UTSA is expected to join The American Athletic Conference effective next summer. “Our intent is to join The American on July 1, 2023,” UTSA athletic director Lisa Campos said in a statement on Friday.

UTSA released the statement in the wake of news that the AAC would terminate its agreements with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, which means that those schools could move into the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season.

Since the first season of UTSA football in 2011, the school’s athletics program as a whole has been in transition. As UTSA football operated as an independent in 2011, the other sports finished their affiliation with the Southland Conference in 2011-12.

After departing the Southland and starting play in the Western Athletic Conference in 2012-13, UTSA promptly moved out of the WAC and into Conference USA in 2013-14.

Now, after a 10th season in the C-USA in 2022-23, the Roadrunners’ 17 Division I teams are headed to the AAC. It’s a move that has been imminent for almost a year. The only detail in question since last October has been the timing, and now it’s official.

Six Conference USA schools are expected to split from the C-USA for the AAC — UTSA, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and UAB. The other conference members are expected to include East Carolina, Tulsa, SMU, Memphis, Navy, Temple, South Florida and Tulane.

UTSA, Charlotte and FAU all announced Friday that they would make the move for the 2023-24 season.

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.

UTSA hosts UAB and hopes to stay hot for the postseason

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Playing for both momentum and the chance to stay alive for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, UTSA opens a three-game Conference USA series tonight at Roadrunner Field.

UTSA is scheduled to take on the visiting UAB Blazers tonight, Friday night and Saturday afternoon in advance of next week’s C-USA tournament.

The Roadrunners were eliminated from C-USA regular-season title contention by losing two of three on the road last week at Southern Mississippi.

At the same time, they still have much to play for, including an opportunity to keep alive hopes for both an at-large and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The winner of the C-USA tournament claims the league’s automatic bid into a 64-team national field.

In order to stay in contention for an NCAA at-large bid, UTSA likely needs to sweep or at least win two games against UAB this weekend, and then also win a couple of games in Hattiesburg next week, when eight teams convene for the C-USA tournament at Pete Taylor Park.

The tournament site in Hattiesburg is the home ball park of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, who lead the C-USA standings by two games over Louisiana Tech and by three over UTSA and Middle Tennessee with three to play in the regular season.

Southern Miss closes with three on the road at Middle Tennessee, while Louisiana Tech will play three at Charlotte.

Records

UAB 30-21, 12-15
UTSA 33-18, 17-10

Coming up

Thursday — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Friday — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — UAB at UTSA, noon

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 20-7
Louisiana Tech 18-9
UTSA 17-10
Middle Tennessee 17-10
Charlotte 16-11
Old Dominion 16-11
FAU 16-11
UAB 12-15

Notable

UTSA, under third-year coach Pat Hallmark, can set a school record for Conference USA victories in a single season if it can win tonight. The Roadrunners went 17-13 in 2015 under Coach Jason Marshall.

The C-USA is fifth in the nation in the NCAA’s ratings percentage index. With victories over Stanford, TCU, Texas State and Southern Miss, UTSA is 45th as a team. UAB is 93rd.

At-large bids into the NCAA tournament are determined by a selection committee. The tournament field is scheduled to be announced on May 30.

Opening games in the NCAA regionals would be on June 3. UTSA has made the NCAA tournament in baseball only three times (1994, 2005 and 2013).

All three times, the Roadrunners made it via the automatic bid, as tournament champions in the Southland Conference in ’94 and ’05 and in the Western Athletic Conference in ’13.

Southern Miss hits six home runs to beat UTSA 9-5 in series finale

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Christopher Sargent smashed three home runs on Sunday to power the Southern Miss Golden Eagles’ 9-5 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

The Golden Eagles homered six times in all as they won for the second straight day in a battle of Conference USA contenders.

Southern Miss, playing on its home field, won two of the three meetings in the weekend series to remain entrenched in first place with three games to play in the C-USA race.

By the end of the afternoon, the Golden Eagles led the C-USA, followed by the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who are two games back. The Roadrunners and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are tied for third, three games out.

The Roadrunners won the opener 8-7 on Friday night in Hattiesburg to pull within one game of the conference lead.

In the final analysis, they couldn’t sustain the momentum, falling 8-3 on Saturday and then watching as Sargent put on an impressive power display at Pete Taylor Park for the 11th-ranked team in the nation.

Sargent, a junior from Wilmer, Ala., was zero for nine in the series coming into the finale.

But he exploded in a game that that decided the series, going three for four at the plate, scoring three runs and driving in four. His three home runs boosted his team-leading total to 18 on the season.

After UTSA took a 2-0 lead in the top of first inning on a Ryan Flores two-run homer, Sargent highlighted a three-run response in the bottom half, answering with a two-run blast of his own off Roadrunners’ starter Drake Smith.

UTSA rallied with three runs in the third to take a 5-3 lead.

But, once again, Sargent had an answer with his potent bat. In the bottom of the third, with UTSA’s Luke Malone on the mound on only one day’s rest, Sargent and Slade Wilks blasted solo home runs to tie the game.

In the fourth, Reece Ewing hit a two-run shot, as the Golden Eagles opened a 7-5 advantage. They never trailed again. Sargent hit a solo homer in the seventh and Carson Paetow added another in the eighth.

With Southern Miss swinging aggressively, UTSA pitching couldn’t match up. Starter Drake Smith got only one out before he yielded three runs on three hits. He was replaced by Malone, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning of Friday night’s victory.

Malone worked 6 and 2/3 innings, and he yielded five runs on seven hits.

The Roadrunners swung the bats well early in the game against USM’s Hurston Waldrep. But they cooled off considerably against relievers Matthew Adams, Justin Storm, Garrett Ramsey and Landon Harper.

UTSA had a chance to rally in the eighth but couldn’t get it done.

With Ramsey on the mound and Southern Miss leading by three runs, Chase Keng opened with a single. Diaz followed with a single, a blast that glanced off Ramsey’s foot and caromed into the outfield.

At that point, Ramsey went down and had to be replaced. Harper entered and struck out Leyton Barry and pinch-hitter Isaiah Walker. Matt King flied out to center to end the inning and the threat.

Records

UTSA 33-18, 17-10
Southern Miss 38-14, 20-7

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 20-7
Louisiana Tech 18-9
UTSA 17-10
Middle Tennessee 17-10
Charlotte 16-11
Old Dominion 16-11
Florida Atlantic 16-11
UAB 12-15

Coming up

Thursday — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Friday — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — UAB at UTSA, noon.

C-USA tournament

May 25-29 — at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Southern Miss tops UTSA to hold CUSA lead

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UTSA first baseman Ryan Flores at bat against Marshall on May 7, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA first baseman Ryan Flores, shown from a game earlier this season, hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning against Southern Miss.

Southern Miss beat UTSA 8-3 Saturday in Hattiesburg to stretch its lead in the Conference USA baseball standings back to two games.

UTSA (17-9 in CUSA) entered the game with a chance to tie 14th-ranked Southern Miss (19-7) at the top of the conference after the Roadrunners won the opener of the three-game weekend series on Friday.

Southern Miss and UTSA wrap up the series on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Ryan Flores accounted for UTSA’s only runs of the game. He hit his ninth home run of the season in the top of the sixth, a three-run shot that also scored Jonathan Tapia and Josh Killeen.

Southern Miss starting pitcher Hunter Riggins held UTSA scoreless the first five innings. He retired eight batters in a row before Tapia and Killeen worked back-to-back walks with one out in the sixth to set up Flores’ blast.

The Golden Eagles scored twice in the second inning and once in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. They went back in front 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

Southern Miss pulled away with four runs in bottom of seventh including two-run homer by Carson Paetow.

Riggins (6-4) got the win for Southern Miss. Golden Eagles reliever Dalton Rogers pitched the final three innings for his fifth save. UTSA’s Ulises Quiroga (1-4) took the loss.

Records

UTSA 33-17, 17-9
Southern Miss 37-14, 19-7

Coming up

Sunday — UTSA at Southern Miss, 11 a.m.
May 19 — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
May 20 — UAB at UTSA, 6 p.m.
May 21 — UAB at UTSA, noon

Notable

UTSA pitchers surpassed the school record for strikeouts in a season. Quiroga recorded strikeout No. 455 to break the record. The Roadrunners’ added one more strikeout in the game to raise their total to 456.

After using six pitchers in Friday’s victory, UTSA used six more on Saturday. Roadrunners starter Ryan Ward went 1 2/3 innings. Jacob Jimenez and Quiroga had Saturday’s longest relief stints at two innings each.

UTSA pitcher Luke Malone (7-2, 2.53 ERA), originally scheduled to be Saturday’s starter, pitched the final inning as Friday’s closer. He could be up for the start on Sunday.

Hurston Waldrep (5-1, 2.54 ERA) is the expected starter for Southern Miss.