By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Led by home runs from Trae Cassidy and James Smith IV, the Memphis Tigers exploded on Sunday for a 10-5 victory over UTSA, dashing the Roadrunners’ hopes of clinching a tie for first in the American Conference’s regular-season title chase.
The Tigers, in taking two out of three on the weekend, also handed the Roadrunners their first series loss in the American since May of 2024. UTSA had won all seven series in conference this season and 18 in row.
At the end of the day, the first-place Roadrunners held a two-game lead over the second-place East Carolina Pirates, with the Rice Owls and the UAB Blazers tied for third, three games off the pace. Each team has three remaining.
UTSA returns home this week to play regional rival Texas State in a non-conference contest on Tuesday night, followed by three in the American against UAB starting Thursday to close out the regular season.
East Carolina closes at the end of the week with three games at FAU in Boca Raton, while Rice plays three at home in Houston against Tulane. The conference tournament runs from May 20-24 in Clearwater, Fla.
UTSA is still in the driver’s seat to claim its second straight conference title. With one more victory, the Roadrunners can clinch at least a share of the championship.
In Memphis, it was a tough weekend for the visitors from San Antonio. The Tigers won 6-4 on Friday night, and UTSA rebounded Saturday with a 9-2 victory, setting up the rubber match at FedEx Park.
The Roadrunners had a chance to win it on Sunday after scoring three runs in the top of the sixth and taking a 4-2 lead.
In the uprising, Diego Diaz and Cade Sadler produced RBI singles and then UTSA pulled off a double steal for the two-run lead.
Undaunted, Memphis exploded for eight runs on seven hits in the bottom of the inning against UTSA relievers Mike DeBattista and Christopher Gutierrez, opening a 10-4 advantage.
Smith capped the outburst with a three-run homer off Gutierrez that landed in a parking lot far beyond the left field wall.
Records
UTSA 34-17, 16-8
Memphis 21-29, 12-12
Coming up
Texas State at UTSA, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
UAB at UTSA, Thursday, 6 p.m.
UAB at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
UAB at UTSA, Saturday, 11 a.m.
American Conference tournament, at Clearwater, Fla., May 20-24.
Around the American
East Carolina shut out Rice 3-0 on Sunday in Greenville, N.C., moving into second place in the standings and pulling to within two games of the Roadrunners. Later Sunday, Charlotte downed UAB 10-8 in 10 innings, dropping UAB into a tie for third with Rice.
American leaderboard
UTSA 16-8, 34-17
East Carolina 14-10, 30-21-1
UAB 13-11, 29-22
Rice 13-11, 31-21
FAU 12-12, 27-24
Memphis 12-12, 21-29
Wichita State 11-13, 27-25
Charlotte 10-14, 25-26
Tulane 10-14, 25-28
South Florida 9-15, 30-20
Notable
Claiming the regular-season title is regarded as significant in UTSA’s quest for a return trip to the NCAA tournament. Since the first year of baseball in the American in 2014, every regular-season champion in the conference since then has pulled down an NCAA bid. That would also include both UCF and Houston when they tied for first in 2017.
I-35 update
The Texas State Bobcats hit six home runs Sunday in a 15-9 victory to sweep three games from Arkansas State at Jonesboro, Ark. Boerne’s Rashawn Galloway and New Braunfels’ Clayton Namken hit two homers apiece for Texas State. They have won four straight overall, improving to 31-21 on the season. The Bobcats are 13-14 in the Sun Belt. Texas State beat UTSA 7-2 on Feb. 24 in San Marcos.