Category Archives: Uncategorized

UTSA baseball to host the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal

Posted on by
Kody Darcy. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA newcomer Kody Darcy has played in six of the team’s seven games and has produced a .400 batting average, a .480 on base percentage and a .600 slugging percentage. Darcy (shown here playing last Friday) had three hits in Sunday’s 13-0 victory over Seattle. – File photo by Joe Alexander

A big day in the history of the UTSA baseball program looms on Monday with the Roadrunners set to host the nationally-ranked Stanford Cardinal.

First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.

The fourth-ranked Cardinal will be the highest-ranked team in any sport to play on UTSA’s campus in the modern era since 2006, according to the Roadrunners’ athletic department.

Both UTSA and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford enter the game with 6-1 records. UTSA has won four in a row and Stanford five straight. Both teams have registered shutout victories in their last two outings.

Stanford won 39 games last year and advanced to the College World Series for the 17th time in program history. This season, the Brock Jones and Cody Huff-led Cardinal started the season by winning two of three at home against Cal State Fullerton.

Last week, the Pac-12 conference power played at home on Tuesday andf beat Santa Clara, winning 5-0. Traveling to Texas to play in the Karbach Round Rock Classic, the Cardinal defeated the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 5-1 on Friday.

On Sunday, Stanford completed its stay in Central Texas by winning twice at Round Rock’s Dell Diamond, beating Indiana 13-0 and then downing second-ranked Arkansas 5-0.

During the Cardinal’s five-game winning streak, coach David Esquer’s pitching staff has yielded only two runs.

The Roadrunners, meanwhile, have also started fast under third-year coach Pat Hallmark.

They won two of three to open the season at Tarleton State and then swept four games in the last three days at home against the Seattle Redhawks.

After winning 7-3 and 3-2 on Friday, the Roadrunners rolled to an 11-0 victory on Saturday and then a 13-0 decision on Sunday.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Roadrunners’ pitching staff limited the Redhawks to a combined six hits.

Meanwhile, the offense feasted on Redhawks pitching Sunday for 20 hits, including three hits by Jonathan Tapia, Sammy Diaz, Leyton Barry and Kody Darcy.

Included in the outburst was a three-run home run by Tapia, a senior from O’Connor, his first of the season.

Records

Stanford 6-1
UTSA 6-1

Coming up

Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.
Friday — Southern at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — Southern at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday (March 6) — Southern at UTSA, 1 p.m.

What cold weather? UTSA stays hot with its third straight victory

Posted on by

For the third time in two days, UTSA played a game in weather better suited for outdoor hockey than baseball. Only this time, a light rain greeted the team when it showed up Saturday morning for a noon start against the Seattle Redhawks.

“We had some bad weather this morning,” Roadrunners catcher Josh Killeen said. “Light drizzle. Really cold. To get loose, it takes awhile. We got here early to run around and get our legs moving, to get our arms moving so we could feel good for the game.”

With his motor running, Killeen stepped up to the plate in his first at bat and drilled a long home run into the screen in left field.

“Felt great,” said Killeen, a sophomore from Reagan. “I knew, right off the bat (that it was a homer). It was first pitch. I was ready for a fastball, and he came in with it. I just did what I did.”

After UTSA scored twice in the first inning and once in the second off Killeen’s first home run of the season, the pitching took over, with Ulises Quiroga, Simon Miller, Grant Miller and Ryan Ward combining on a four-hit shutout in an 11-0 victory.

UTSA blew it open with six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 5-1 start to the season and a 3-0 start to the first homestand. The Roadrunners will finish the four-game home series against Seattle Sunday at noon, before nationally-ranked Stanford comes in Monday for a 1 p.m. game.

“Feels good to start off right,” Killeen said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve stepped up, even guys off the bench. So, we’re excited. Just trying to keep this momentum going into tomorrow. And then it’s a big week ahead, with Stanford. So we’re excited and ready to get after it.”

After winning 7-3 and 3-2 on Friday, the Roadrunners left the park feeling a little bit uneasy about their performance.

“I didn’t think we played very good yesterday and we won two,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “That’s what the message to the team was. We were fortunate, lucky a little bit, maybe. Also, the message was, how good can we be if we play good. Right? You win two and you don’t play good, it’s kind of a good sign.

“But we were better today. We pitched well. We hit well, and we ran the bases well. We did not run the bases well yesterday. Anyway, we were better.”

Last year, pitching haunted the Roadrunners in a 22-26 season. Their ERA was 5.92. Teams scored almost eight runs per game against them. They lost so many leads late in games, it felt like collapses were almost inevitable.

Now they’re three games into their first homestand, and they’ve given up only five runs in 25 innings against the Redhawks. For the season, they’ve really only had one clunker of a pitching outing in a 12-1 loss at Tarleton last week.

On Saturday, the Roadrunners walked too many batters. They walked 12, which will not be good enough when they face the best hitting teams later in the season. But for the second day in a row, UTSA pitchers were good enough to buckle down and throw good stuff with men on base.

“It was good to see Simon Miller pitch as well as he did,” Hallmark said. “We need him, because he’s got the stuff to beat good teams. You know, the Southern Miss of the world. He’s got the stuff to do it. He just needs experience and (to throw) the strikes.”

Miller pitched the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to earn the victory. He seemed to get stronger as he threw more and more pitches. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore from Canton didn’t allow a hit and struck out five, though he did walk four.

“He got the breaking ball going,” Hallmark said. “He’s got a good breaking ball. He found the strike zone with it. He can be tough when he does that.”

After being limited to eight hits in Friday night’s second game, the Roadrunners rebounded with 10 hits, including four for extra bases. Leyton Barry, Chase Keng and Killeen had two hits apiece. Led by Barry, who is hitting .409 on the season, the Roadrunners have six players batting better than .300.

After going 2 for 5, Killeen boosted his average to .278. He said he is feeling good after hurting his thumb and playing as the No. 2 catcher behind Nick Thornquist last year. Killeen broke a thumb in his wrist area in the preseason and just wasn’t right physically.

He emerged fromm it all as one of the team’s best hitters in the fall. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Killeen said. “I knew I had put in all the work. Now it’s just God’s gift to me, blessing me. (Just) hoping it continues.”

Coming up

Sunday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.

Looking to build on a 4-1 record, UTSA hosts Seattle again today

Posted on by
Matt King. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Infielder Matt King.and the UTSA Roadrunners continue their first home series of the season against the Seattle Redhawks Saturday. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The new college baseball season continues on Saturday at Roadrunner Field as UTSA (4-1) and the Seattle Redhawks (1-5) hit the diamond for Game 3 of a four-game series. First pitch is at noon.

Braving temperatures in the 40s on Friday, the Roadrunners took two from the Redhawks to open the series, winning the first game 7-3 and then claiming the nightcap, 3-2.

In the second game, UTSA’s Austin Ochoa smashed a two-run double in the seventh inning to give the Roadrunners a 3-0 lead. UTSA pitching gave up two runs in the eighth and then held on in the ninth for the victory.

In the opener, Shane Sirdashney had two hits and two RBIs for the Roadrunners. UTSA put the game away with four runs on four hits in the sixth. Matt King and Leyton Barry acontributed to the uprising with back-to-back RBI singles.

Coming up

Saturday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Sunday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.

Roadrunners win two on a chilly opening day at home

Posted on by
Luke Malone. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Luke Malone pitched into the eighth inning Friday night as the UTSA Roadrunners downed the Seattle Redhawks 3-2 to sweep a doubleheader. UTSA won the opener, 7-3. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners talked in days leading into the new season about their hopes for an improved pitching staff. They feel pretty good about the results after the first five games.

UTSA improved its record to 4-1 after downing the Seattle Redhawks 7-3 and 3-2 Friday in 40-degree weather at Roadrunner Field.

Coming up

Saturday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Sunday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.

First day at home

On the first day at home for the Roadrunners this season, the pitching wasn’t perfect. But it seemed to hold together in the tough moments.

Leyton Barry. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA second baseman Leyton Barry plays the field on a cold day at Roadrunner Field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

In the first game, the Roadrunners fell behind 3-0, only to have relievers Ryan Beaird and Reece Easterling shut out the Redhawks on no hits in the final 4 and 1/3 innings.

In Game 2, Luke Malone started and worked into the eighth inning with a 3-0 lead. After Seattle scored twice in the eighth, reliever Allen Smith struck out two batters to end the threat.

When the Redhawks rallied again in the ninth, Daniel Shafer entered to get the last two outs to preserve the victory. The Redhawks had the tying run at third base, but Shafer induced a ground ball by Connor O’Brien to end the game.

Malone might have been the story of the day. He was strong. He worked 7 and 1/3 innings and yielded only one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking just one.

Last week, UTSA opened its season on the road against the Tarleton State Texans and won two out of three largely on the strength of their offense. They won 21-5 and 12-8 and then lost in the finale, 12-1.

Ian Bailey. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Ian Bailey, a senior from Stevens, leads the Roadrunners with a .450 batting average through five games. He has nine hits. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Through five games combined against Tarleton and Seattle, two programs affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference, UTSA’s pitching staff ERA is 5.40, down slightly from last year’s 5.92.

In addition, UTSA pitching is holding opponents to a .259 batting average. Last year, teams hit .277 against the Roadrunners.

Tapia says UTSA pitching could be ‘the heart of the team’

Posted on by

Fifth-year UTSA senior Jonathan Tapia is projected to start in center field tonight at Tarleton State but also is also expected to play this season in the infield. — File photo by Joe Alexander

Jonathan Tapia, a fifth-year UTSA senior from O’Connor High School, will lead the Roadrunners into Stephenville tonight as they open the college baseball season on the road against the Tarleton State Texans. Tapia, a preseason pick on the all-Conference USA team, has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and is working on his master’s in business. I met Tapia earlier this week for an interview at Roadrunner Field.

How do you think the team looks?

The team looks good. It’s the first weekend, and, you know, we’re going to see how the first weekend goes. We’re going to look to sweep. But Tarleton is a good team. So, they’re going to come out and give us (their) best shot.

What about for the long term? What do you think is this team’s potential?

I really think our (pitching) staff is going to be good. The heart of the team. We’re going to have guys coming out of the pen. Four or five guys coming out of the pen. So, we’re going to have that. Hitting’s going to come along, too. Hitting comes and goes. You got to have pitching to win games.

What about the pitching staff makes you so optimistic?

We got a lot of new guys. New faces. Guys with good stuff. Guys with velo.

What about from your vantage point. You’re starting in center on Friday night. What do you see in terms of the defense up the middle?

Defense is going to be solid. That’s going to be one of our strong points. Our infield coach emphasizes that defense wins games. I really think that’s going to be our emphasis this year.

Shortstop Kody Darcy is a new face. What do you see from Kody?

I love Kody. Kody’s a good guy. He’s going to be in our lineup every day. He brings a good (skills at) shortstop and a good bat as well.

I see from watching this practice today that he’s got a lot of range.

Yeah, we need that up the middle.

Are you going to be all over the place this year, defensively? I saw you played center today. A little at third. A little at second?

Per usual. I’m going to be utility. I like that. You got to keep the mind guessing. Is what I like to say.

A friend of mine says he saw you shifted from third base to second in one inning last year.

I think it was in the Rice series I did that. I was at third, and then when a lefty (hitter) would come up, I’d go to second. It’s interesting in the scorebook, because (a ground ball to second) will be a 5-3 putout in the book.

Do you like having that multi-faceted role with the team?

I enjoy it. I think it brings versatility to our team and also to me. I’m pretty confident, wherever I play. Coach asks me where I want to play. I say, I just want to play. I just want to help the team, honestly.

What do you remember most about last season?

Last season? Last season was kind of a blur, honestly. As a team, I really think we swung the bat really well. And I think this year’s going to be the same thing. Like I said, hitting comes and goes. We might struggle, but in the next game, it’ll come back.

You went to C-USA tournament in Ruston last year and lost two games in extra innings. Two one-run games in extra innings. How long did it take you to get over that?

Yea, man, it was tough. Obviously, we played a good LA Tech team. Losing to them by one run in extra innings. We played them the week before and lost to them in extra innings, as well. It just shows that we can hang with the big dogs up there.

How do you feel about this being your last ride with the Roadrunners?

I’m going to go out there and give it all I got, like I’ve done all four years. Just going out with the guys and having fun. I mean, that’s all you can do. It’s just a game. I mean, you got to have fun playing baseball.

What about your academics? You’ve been honored by the conference a few times. Do you want to brag about your academics a little?

I don’t really like to brag about myself. I mean, I just … school’s hard, as it is. That’s why I’m going to school. Playing baseball and going to school, my family and everybody just keep me on top of everything. Especially our advisor. Beth Noteware. She always helps us with everything that we need.

You study kinesiology, right. Have you graduated already?

I’ve already graduated. I’m doing my master’s in business right now. I’m doing that right now. I’ll finish that up next fall.

What do you hope to do with kinesiology, plus business?

Evidently, I want to open up my own business. A baseball-related business. Kind of like the D-1s that you see in Boerne. All of that stuff. I kind of want to do that. There’s a lot of things I could do right now with a masters in business degree. That’s kind of what I want to do.

Are you going to try to play some pro ball next year?

Yes sir. That’s the No. 1 goal right now, (although, and) I forgot who told me this. But, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t go play pro ball. I gave it all I got all five years (here). That’s all I can ask for.

Play ball! New season dawns for San Antonio area talent

Posted on by

Jace Jung, a Texas Tech sophomore from San Antonio MacArthur High School, headlines our list of players from the local area in NCAA Division I baseball. — Photo, courtesy of Texas Tech athletics, by Elise Bressler

Good morning, all.

With the college baseball season opening today, I tried to track down the names of everyone from the San Antonio area that I could find on Division I rosters.

I’ve been working on the list for a few days now and, admittedly, might have overlooked a few guys. But I did my best and, for now, here it is. I’ll update through the season if more names come to light.

Special thanks to Matt Burkholder at Texas Tech University. Matt was kind enough to email photos of slugger Jace Jung, a Red Raiders sophomore from San Antonio’s MacArthur High School.

Jung was the Big 12 player of the year and earned All-American honors as a freshman last season. He hit .337 and led the conference with 21 homers.

Here are some other names to keep an eye on:

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

Bryan Aguilar, Tarleton State, INF, senior from East Central, also Hill JC and Marshall University

Ian Bailey, UTSA, OF, grad senior from Stevens

Zane Badmaev, Tarleton State, RHP, sophomore from Boerne

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

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

Ryan Beaird, UTSA, RHP, freshman from Reagan

Brandon Beckel, Texas Tech, P, sophomore from Antonian

Luke Boyers, TCU, OF, sophomore from Boerne Champion

Garrett Brooks, UTSA, OF, freshman from Smithson Valley

Porter Brown, TCU, OF, redshirt sophomore from Reagan

Clayton Chadwick, Sam Houston State, UTL, sophomore from La Vernia

Josh Coleman, Houston, LHP, freshman from Johnson

Preston Dallmeyer, Stephen F. Austin, OF, sophomore from Poth and Ranger College

Zach DeLeon, UT Rio Grande Valley, RHP, senior from Hondo and UTSA

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

Garrett Egli, Abilene Christian, RHP, grad transfer from Smithson Valley, Sam Houston State

Cohen Feser, TCU, P, freshman from Reagan

Ty Fontenot, Baylor, LHP, redshirt freshman from Brandeis

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

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

Josh Killeen, UTSA, C, redshirt sophomore from Reagan and Wichita State

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

Cal Martin, Stephen F. Austin, UTL, sophomore from Reagan

Zack May, Incarnate Word, RHP, grad student, from Smithson Valley, and McNeese State, Hill College

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

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

Julio Riggs, Abilene Christian, INF-OF, sophomore, Boerne and Paris College

Dalton Shuffield, Texas State, INF, senior from Johnson

Travis Sthele, Texas, P, redshirt freshman from Reagan

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

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

Jonathan Tapia, UTSA, INF/OF, senior from O’Connor

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

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

Ryan Ward, UTSA, RHP, sophomore from Clemens

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

Isaiah Zavala, Incarnate Word, RHP, junior from Southwest

Cold weather for baseball? Just how the Roadrunners like it

Posted on by

Leyton Barry and the UTSA Roadrunners open their season Friday night in Stephenville against the Tarleton State Texans. — File photo by Joe Alexander

Two weeks ago, Pat Hallmark emerged from the clubhouse and walked out to the field, bundled up in a coat to ward off the cold from a low 40s-type day in South Texas. Some of his players sensed an opening to have some fun. A few of them remarked, “Hey coach, it’s just how we like it.”

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark says he feels good about the improvement of his pitching. — File photo by Joe Alexander

It’s a refrain heard often around Roadrunner Field this time of year. It’s a mindset that Hallmark, UTSA’s third-year coach, always tries to instill in his players when they’re pushing through practices in late January and early February in preparation for the start of the college baseball season.

Some days, though, the cold just doesn’t allow for any type of workout. Such was the case a few weeks ago.

“That weekend, we didn’t (practice at all on Thursday) and we didn’t play intrasquad on Friday,” the coach said. “We basically got all the pitching in on Saturday and Sunday. We really didn’t miss anything. Just got pushed back a day.

“Last weekend, it sorted itself back out. (We played regularly-scheduled intrasquad games) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So we didn’t miss anything. It was just a little colder.”

The Roadrunners may need to break out the long sleeves again this weekend in Stephenville when they open their season with a three-game series against the Tarleton State Texans. Start times Friday and Saturday are at 6 p.m., with the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday night, temperatures at the Tarleton State Baseball Complex could dip into the 40s, according to the forecast online at weather.com. “Again, we’re prepared,” Hallmark said. “The guys are 100 percent ready.”

In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Hallmark expressed optimism about his team’s prospects leading into the road trip to Tarleton, another game at TCU next Wednesday night and then the home-opening series starting Feb. 25. UTSA will host Seattle for four games from Feb. 25-27, followed by a matchup against Stanford on Feb. 28.

“You’re always hopeful and encouraged,” he said. “I think we’ll win some games here early. I think we’ll win some games throughout the year. But we’ve got to go do it, right. I would hope I would think that, (but) the pitching looks good.”

Last season, pitching problems haunted the Roadrunners as they finished 22-26 and got bounced out of the Conference USA tournament in two straight. Despite an offense that ranked as one of the best statistically in the nation, the pitching was among the least effective, with an earned run average of 5.92 and a WHIP of 1.62.

Sensing that the pitching would need an overhaul even before last season, Hallmark and his staff have added some talented young arms to mesh with some veterans who are throwing the ball better. “More days than not, the pitching seems to be winning,” Hallmark said. “It’s a good sign.”

On the first weekend, UTSA is expected to start senior righthander Jacob Jimenez on Friday, followed by lefty grad student Grant Miller on Saturday and freshman righty Braylon Owens on Sunday. The staff, as a whole, just seems to please the head coach.

“We’ve got a lot of new players on the mound,” Hallmark said. “And then, some of the returning players have improved. They just throw more quality pitches.”

Hallmark mentioned Owens, Ryan Beaird and Braden Davis as freshmen who have worked their way into the mix to pitch in games early this season for the Roadrunners. Also, junior college transfers Ulises Quiroga and Allen Smith have shown promise.

“At the end of the day, you just got to throw strikes and you got to create some hitting problems (for the opponent),” Hallmark said. “So we’ll be better able to do that this year, and some of it will be … you’ll see some plain ol’ new people out there.”

Hallmark, who started at UTSA in the 2020 season cut short by the Covid-19 crisis, is hopeful that his staff’s recruiting efforts will yield improved play on defense, as well.

“We’ve just tried to constantly improve the quality of the athlete on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “It’s not always that easy. Because they got to hit. You might be able to find seven or eight fast athletic kids. But if they can’t hit, you know, you got to be able to score, too. So that’s always a challenge.”

Opening-day starters Friday night are expected to be:

Pitcher — Jacob Jimenez
Catcher — Josh Killeen
First base — Ryan Flores
Second base — Leyton Barry
Shortstop — Kody Darcy
Third base — Austin Ochoa
Right field — Chase Keng
Center field — Jonathan Tapia
Left field — Ian Bailey
Designated hitter — Garrett Poston

As for the hitting? Batting stars Nick Thornquist, Griffin Paxton and Dylan Rock have all played out their eligibility. But it’s expected that the Roadrunners will score some runs, because Hallmark’s teams usually do.

Last year, Barry and Keng both hit better than .300 and slugged at nearly .600 for the Roadrunners. Darcy, a transfer from Xavier in Cincinnati, came in with the reputation as a defensive player but has also started to hit and hit with power under the tutelage of assistant coach Ryan Aguayo.

Hallmark also likes Garrett Poston’s bat. Poston is expected to hit in the leadoff spot Friday night.

North Texas downs UTSA, 69-45, to win eighth straight

Posted on by

Eight wins in a row? No problem. The North Texas Mean Green methodically built a 17-point halftime lead and then cruised to a 69-45 victory at home Saturday over the UTSA Roadrunners.

Playing at the Super Pit in Denton, the Mean Green won their season-high eighth straight game and improved to 14-1 since Thanksgiving by holding UTSA to 29.2 percent shooting from the field, including 20 percent in the first half.

Center Abou Ousmane had 17 points and six rebounds for the Mean Green, who shot 54.8 percent in a slow-down offense. Guard Tylor Perry came off the bench to score 16 points, while Mardrez McBride added 12.

Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 15 for the Roadrunners, who lost their third straight game and their 12th out of 14 overall.

UTSA coach Steve Henson credited the Mean Green, a team that is playing for a second-straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

“They really manhandled us,” Henson told the team’s radio broadcast, “kept us from running anything … Kept us from passing. Kept us from screening. They just totally dictated with their defense.”

A series of blows to the UTSA roster in January have proven costly.

The Roadrunners lost forwards Cedrick Alley, Jr., and Aleu Aleu for the season. Alley, who is academically ineligible, was a dogged defender who could also score in a complementary role.

Aleu, sidelined with a knee injury, was a multi-talented player who could shoot from distance, drive and defend. Without them, the Roadrunners don’t seem capable of standing up to many teams in Conference USA, let alone the C-USA’s best.

UTSA is 1-5 without Aleu and 1-7 since Alley played his last game.

Ivy-Curry and Dhieu Deing also sat out games last month, the former because of Covid protocols and the latter because he briefly considered turning professional.

Since their return, both of the Roadrunners’ most talented perimeter players have had a tough time finding a groove.

Against North Texas, Ivy-Curry hit 5 of 17 shots from the field, making him 8 of 34 in two games on the current road trip. In the same two games, at Rice and North Texas, Deing is a combined 5 of 18. Deing was limited to 2 of 10 shooting and nine points against the Mean Green.

Center Jacob Germany, UTSA’s other primary threat, led UTSA with 20 points at Rice. He was held to six points and four rebounds against North Texas.

Essentially, the Mean Green kept the ball out of the 6-foot-11 center’s hands. But even when Germany could get off a shot, it wasn’t falling. He finished 1 of 5 from the field.

First half

In the first half, North Texas showed precision in execution on both ends of the floor.

Unfortunately for the UTSA Roadrunners, they didn’t really counter any of it. As a result, the Mean Green emerged with a 34-17 lead at intermission.

Notable

UTSA’s field goal percentage was its third lowest of the season and its fourth below 30 percent. On the road against Oklahoma, the Roadrunners shot 22.7 percent. Also, at home against UT Rio Grande Valley (25.7), at North Texas (29.2) and at Charlotte (29.4).

The 45 points were the second fewest in a game this year, next to the 44 scored in the 96-44 loss at OU on Nov. 12, in the second game of the year. Against North Texas, UTSA almost hit the season’s low-scoring mark before Isaiah Addo-Ankrah sank a layup with two seconds left.

Records

UTSA 8-16, 1-10
North Texas 16-4, 9-1

Coming up

Monday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee.

Roadrunners prepare for road test against C-USA champs

Posted on by

Looking for a fresh start to a season gone awry, the UTSA Roadrunners will face the streaking North Texas Mean Green today at the Super Pit in Denton.

Tipoff is at 5 p.m.

Slumping UTSA has lost two in a row and 11 of its last 13. North Texas has won seven straight to take the lead in the Conference USA West division.

The Mean Green hold a 17-12 edge against the Roadrunners in the all-time series, including 8-4 in Denton.

North Texas is coming off a season in which it won the C-USA postseason title to advance to the NCAA tournament.

The Mean Green claimed the conference championship in stunning fashion, winning four games in four days at Frisco.

Moving on to the national tournament, Coach Grant McCasland steered 13th-seeded North Texas to an overtime victory in the first round against the No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers.

The Mean Green were finally ousted from the tournament in the round of 32 by the Villanova Wildcats.

UTSA, meanwhile, is working to piece together a respectable second half of the C-USA schedule. In January, the Roadrunners experienced several roster disruptions, forcing the team to reorganize virtually each week.

Last weekend, UTSA snapped a six-game losing streak with a 73-66 victory at home over the FIU Panthers. Two days later, the FAU Owls made all the plays in the last three minutes and won 73-64 on the Roadrunners’ home floor.

This week started with a trip to Houston, where the Rice Owls handed the Roadrunners a 91-78 loss.

UTSA shot a season-best 50 percent from the field but couldn’t stop Rice, a free-flowing offensive club that put five players in double figures and hit 62 percent.

Against North Texas, the Roadrunners will face an entirely different style.

The Mean Green’s plan is to take advantage of every second on the shot clock, make the opponent work and then aim for high-percentage looks at the basket.

They have won seven in a row, but in only one of the victories have they scored as many as 70 points.

In their last outing, the Mean Green erased a 17-point, second-half deficit on the road at Louisiana Tech and won 63-62 when Tylor Perry hit a three with six seconds left.

Records

UTSA 8-15, 1-9
North Texas 15-4, 8-1

Coming up

Monday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee

Rice shoots 62 percent and downs UTSA, 91-78

Posted on by

The Rice Owls gave up all of a 17-point lead before rolling in the second half to a 91-78 victory at home over the slumping UTSA Roadrunners.

UTSA has lost two straight and 11 of its last 13, with two more games looming on a Conference USA road trip.

“We were concerned about their outside shooting,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast. “We knew their big guys were capable and they just dominated us.

“Those two guys (Max Fiedler and Mylyjael Poteat) had their way with us down in the paint.”

Utilizing an array of offensive talent, Rice hit 66.7 percent from the field in the second half and 62.3 percent for the game.

Fiedler led all scorers, pacing five Owls in double figures with 22 points. Poteat had 12 off the bench, including eight in the first half when he hit his first four shots from the field.

Center Jacob Germany scored 20 points for the Roadrunners, who had one of their best offensive showings of the season.

UTSA hit 50 percent from the field, with Darius McNeill, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah and Lachlan Bofinger all shooting the ball well. But on the other end, Rice just had too much talent to guard.

Leading 38-21 late in the first half, Rice struggled defensively and allowed UTSA to tie it 44-44 shortly after intermission. From there, the Owls started to pick up the intensity and gradually ran away with it.

Fiedler and guards Travis Evee and Quincy Olivari all scored 10 points apiece in the second half.

For UTSA, the next stop on the road trip is Denton, with a game set for 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon against the C-USA West Division-leading North Texas Mean Green.

“That’ll be an entirely different deal,” Henson said. “This game had a lot of possessions. Had a lot of flow to it. North Texas is going to cut it in half. Can’t turn the ball over against them. It’ll be tough. It’ll be a tough matchup.”

Records

UTSA 8-15, 1-9
Rice 13-8, 6-4

Coming up

Saturday — UTSA at North Texas (15-4, 8-1)
Monday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee (14-6, 5-2)

First half

Even though the Owls held a 44-40 lead at the half, the Roadrunners felt good as they ducked into the dressing room at intermissiom.

Trailing by as many as 17 points, the Roadrunners rallied behind Addo-Ankrah on a 19-6 run in the last four minutes. Addo-Ankrah hit three 3-point shots in the spree.

Notable

The Roadrunners failed to get two of their top offensive players going against the Owls. Jordan Ivy-Curry was 3 for 17 from the field and Dheiu Deing 3 of 8. Ivy-Curry finished with 10 points and Deing, playing off the bench, had seven. As the game progressed, Ivy-Curry became more of a distributor. He passed for nine assists.

Ankrah, a walk-on, finished with a season-high 15 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting. Bofinger also had one of his better offensive games with 4-of-5 shooting and 10 points. Darius McNeill started and scored 12 points. He hit 6 of 11 field goal attempts. McNeill also had four assists and four rebounds.

Pera’s impact

Rice basketball is on the upswing under fifth-year coach Scott Pera. In 2017-18, Pera’s first season, the Owls scuffled to a 7-24 record. Last year, they finished 15-13 overall and 6-10 in conference. One of their 13 victories this year has come against the UAB Blazers, the best team in the C-USA East.

Rice hasn’t had back-to-back winning seasons since 2012 and hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 1970.