Texas State at UTSA game tonight carries NCAA implications

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UTSA's Chase Keng playing against Florida International on Sunday, April 24, 2022, at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio. - photo by Joe Alexander

Chase Keng has emerged as one of UTSA’s hottest hitters. He’s averaging .387 with six doubles, a triple and two homers during the Roadrunners’ recent 14-3 surge.- Photo by Joe Alexander


UTSA and Texas State, two old rivals with designs on reaching the NCAA baseball tournament, will meet tonight at 6 at Roadrunner Field.

Both enter the game on hot streaks, with the Roadrunners riding a 14-3 surge in their last 17 games, while the Bobcats have won nine straight. Texas State is 12-3 in its last 15.

The two programs separated by about 50 miles of interstate highway played for the first time in two years last week in San Marcos, and Texas State held off UTSA 14-12 despite the Roadrunners rallying for seven runs in the ninth inning.

Last weekend, both teams swept three-game series at home within their own conferences, with Texas State (32-9) blitzing the Little Rock Trojans in the Sun Belt and UTSA (27-13) rolling past the FIU Panthers in Conference USA.

This week, Texas State is ranked anywhere from No. 7 to No. 20 in the polls.

UTSA is unranked except that it is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll. In the NCAA ratings percentage index, Texas State is 47th and UTSA 58th.

Sixty four teams make the NCAA tournament, which starts in June.

Tonight’s starters

UTSA’s Ryan Ward (1-0, 4.50) against Texas State’s Tevis Sundgren (2-4, 6.23)

Records

UTSA 27-13
Texas State 32-9

Last NCAA appearance

UTSA — 2013
Texas State — 2011

Coming up

UTSA — On Friday, UTSA opens a Conference USA road series at the Middle Tennessee State
Texas State — Will start a Sun Belt Conference series at home Friday against South Alabama

The series

Texas State leads the series against UTSA, 61-37. The Bobcats have won two straight off the Roadrunners and four of the past five.

The Bobcats and Roadrunners played in the same conference for most of the three-decades old rivalry, first in the Southland and for one year in the Western Athletic Conference.

In the 2014 season, the Bobcats started play in the Sun Belt, while UTSA linked with Conference USA. Over that period of time, Texas State has won 10 of the 18 games overall, but UTSA has won five of the eight meetings held in San Antonio.

The national rankings

Texas State – UTSA

RPI 47 – 58
Baseball America 19 – NR
Collegiate Baseball 7 – NR
D1Baseball 17 – NR
NCBWA 20 – receiving votes
Perfect Game NR NR
USA Today Coaches 18 NR

Series results

The Bobcats and the Roadrunners have played in separate conferences since the 2014 season. Here are the results of their games since then:

2022

Texas State wins 14-12 at San Marcos on April 19

2021

Did not play

2020

Texas State wins 11-1 at San Marcos on March 10

2019

UTSA wins 8-5 at San Antonio on April 30

Texas State wins 14-1 at San Marcos on April 2

Texas State wins 8-3 at San Antonio on March 5

2018

UTSA wins 5-3 at San Marcos on April 3

UTSA wins 7-2 at San Antonio on March 20

Texas State wins 5-2 at San Marcos on March 13

2017

Texas State wins 11-8 at San Antonio on May 2

UTSA wins 9-1 at San Marcos on March 7

2016

Texas State wins 6-0 at San Antonio on May 3

Texas State wins 13-10 at San Marcos on April 5

UTSA wins 14-7 at San Antonio on March 15

2015

UTSA wins 10-8 at San Marcos on April 14

UTSA wins 5-4 at San Antoio on March 31

Texas State wins 11-7 at San Marcos on March 17

2014

UTSA wins 7-2 at San Antonio on April 15

Texas State wins 7-6 at San Marcos on April 1

UTSA rallies to win 9-8 behind freshman pitcher Braylon Owens

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UTSA reliever Braylon Owens got the win in Sunday's victory over Florida International at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Braylon Owens, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound righthander from Elgin, improved his record to 2-1 on the season as UTSA downed the FIU Panthers 9-8 at Roadrunner Field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman Braylon Owens pitched 2 and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday as the UTSA Roadrunners rallied to win 9-8 and complete a three-game Conference USA sweep of the Florida International Panthers.

Owens entered the game in the seventh inning. He allowed three hits and walked one, but he also made some big pitches in striking out two for the Roadrunners, who improved to 27-13 on the season and to 12-6 in the C-USA.

Jonathan Tapia delivered a solo home run and Ryan Flores added an RBI in the bottom of the seventh as the Roadrunners forged an 8-8 tie. After Owens held FIU scoreless in the top half of the eighth, UTSA made it 9-8 in the bottom half on a Garrett Poston RBI single.

Owens retired three straight in the ninth to nail down the victory, which improved UTSA’s record to 14-3 over its last 17 games. The Roadrunners are 10-2 in their last 12 in C-USA play.

Southern Miss leads the conference standings at 16-2, with UTSA and Louisiana Tech tied for second at 12-6. Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee tied for fourth at 11-7.

UTSA has a tough week ahead, hosting nationally-ranked Texas State on Tuesday and then traveling for a weekend series at Middle Tennessee.

Records

UTSA 27-13, 12-6
FIU 11-26, 4-14

Coming up

Tuesday — Texas State at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Friday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee 6 p.m.
Saturday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee 3 p.m.
Sunday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee, 11 a.m.

UTSA stops a two-game skid with a 12-4 victory over FIU

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Luke Malone pitched into the sixth inning Friday night as the UTSA Roadrunners ended a two-game losing streak, downing the FIU Panthers 12-4 in a Conference USA home game.

Malone gave up three triples and a double, but he stayed with it and earned the victory, improving his record to a team-best 6-1.

After losses to Rice and Texas State on the road, UTSA needed to gain some momentum going the other direction.

Malone, pitching 5 and 1/3 innnings, answered the call. He gave up six hits and three runs, with only one of them earned. The senior struck out five and walked none.

Ian Bailey and Garrett Poston homered for the Roadrunners.

Records

UTSA 25-13, 10-6
FIU 11-24, 4-12

Coming up

Saturday — FIU at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday — FIU at UTSA, 11 a.m.
Tuesday — Texas State at UTSA, 6 p.m.

Old rivalry lives up to its billing as Texas State holds off UTSA, 14-12

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The afternoon was damp, with a drizzling rain, before a 6 p.m. first pitch in San Marcos. Then it turned windy and a little bit wild.

In a game that lasted for four hours and 14 minutes, the ninth-ranked Texas State Bobcats built a nine-run lead and then watched in shock as their Interstate 35 rivals nearly pulled off a miracle rally to win.

Fortunately for Texas State, closer Tristan Stivors struck out the last batter with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to preseve a 14-12 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

Trailing by a 14-5 count entering the ninth, the Roadrunners rallied for seven runs and had a chance to make things even more interesting if they could just get one more hit.

Stivors, from Medina Valley, decided it just wasn’t going to happen that way. After giving up an RBI single and a bases loaded walk, he fanned pinch hitter Nick Crespo with the bases loaded to end it, securing his team’s sixth straight win.

Crespo worked a count to 3-2 before Stivors dropped a breaking pitch into the strike zone for strike three. It was the 389th pitch of the game, including the 198th for the Bobcats.

Texas State outfielder Jose Gonzalez led the Bobcats offensively with three hits and five RBI. He clubbed a three-run homer in a seven-run fourth inning. The Texas State defense also played a role with three double plays and at least three balls caught at the warning track.

UTSA had won 11 of 13 games coming in. It led by two runs early, and then crumbled when Texas State scored three in the third and seven in the fourth inning for an 11-3 lead.

The Roadrunners started to rally with two runs in the top of the seventh. Undeterred, the Bobcats struck again with three in its half for a 14-5 lead.

As if the game needed any more fireworks, the Roadrunners sent 13 batters to the plate in the ninth. UTSA produced six hits and three walks. A big play during the outburst was an infield error that allowed the Roadrunners to score two runs.

In the end, the Bobcats escaped with a victory in the first meeting between the old rivals in two years. Texas State leads the series against UTSA with a 61-37 record. The Bobcats have won four of the last five against the Roadrunners.

UTSA lost in spite of a 20-hit performance, including three each by Garrett Poston, Shane Sirdashney and Leyton Barry.

For Barry, his hardest-hit ball of the night was a drive that was caught at the top of the fence by John Wuthrich in the fourth inning. After the catch, the Roadrunners loaded the bases with a couple of hits and a walk.

The Bobcats ended the threat by turning a double play on a bouncer to the pitcher, who threw to the plate for the first out. The catcher threw to first to end the inning. Texas State followed by scoring seven runs in its half of the fourth to open an eight-run lead.

Records

Texas State 29-9
UTSA 24-13

Coming up

Friday — Texas State hosts the Little Rock Trojans in a Sun Belt Conference series opener, while UTSA, hosts the FIU Panthers in Conference USA.
Tuesday, April 26 — Texas State at UTSA, 6 p.m.

Notable

The Bobcats defeated the Roadrunners for the fourth time in five meetings. Their last meeting came in March of 2020 in San Marcos when the Bobcats won 11-1 in eight innings on a run rule. The next day, college baseball and the rest of the sports world started to shut down in the wake of the pandemic.

The I-35 rivals started playing in 1992, which was UTSA’s first year as a baseball program.

This could be Texas State’s best team in more than 10 years. With seven victories over Power 5 conference programs, the Bobcats are looking for their first bid to the NCAA tournament since 2011. UTSA’s last NCAA appearance came in 2013.

UTSA at Texas State — I-35 baseball series resumes tonight

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The UTSA Roadrunners are set to play a non-conference baseball game on the road tonight in San Marcos against the Texas State Bobcats. But, as fans of the two schools understand, it’s not just another game.

It’s a continuation of a four-decades-old rivalry in all sports, including three decades of competition on the baseball diamond.

On top of that, Texas State (28-9) will take the field for the 6 p.m. game at Bobcat Ballpark with one of its strongest teams ever, ranked as high as ninth in the nation among the various polls. UTSA (24-12) won’t be in awe. The Roadrunners also have one of their best teams in recent times.

Both squads have dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament.

The rivalry between the schools has been ongoing for more than four decades, dating to 1981, when UTSA started its athletics programs. The baseball rivalry has spanned more than 30 years.

Texas State played the sport early in the 20th century and dropped it in 1931, according to baseball-reference.com. The program was re-started in 1984 when the school initially moved up to NCAA Division I. UTSA added baseball to its overall Division I program in 1992.

Baseball passions between the schools have been dormant for a couple of years now, which lends some sizzle to tonight’s game and to one scheduled April 26 at Roadrunner Field.

It’s the first meeting of the two schools in baseball since March 10, 2020, the day before the pandemic shut down the collegiate spring sports season and much of the rest of the sports world. On that day, Texas State won 11-1 in San Marcos, defeating UTSA for the third time in four tries.

Who holds the upper hand in the series? Overall, the Bobcats hold a 60-37 advantage, but the Roadrunners have closed the gap slightly over the last nine seasons, trailing only 12-9. Texas State is 31-16 against UTSA in San Marcos, including 7-3 in the last nine seasons.

Texas State’s last trip to the NCAA tournament came in 2011 when it shared membership with UTSA in the Southland Conference. UTSA’s last NCAA appearance came in 2013. That was the first year that both programs played in the Western Athletic Conference.

By the next season, both programs split, with Texas State moving into the Sun Belt and UTSA into Conference USA.

Given the passions associated with the rivalry, we’ll go back in recent history to take a look at the game by game results since the 2011 season.

2021

Did not play

2020

Texas State wins 11-1 at San Marcos on March 10

2019

UTSA wins 8-5 at San Antonio on April 30

Texas State wins 14-1 at San Marcos on April 2

Texas State wins 8-3 at San Antonio on March 5

2018

UTSA wins 5-3 at San Marcos on April 3

UTSA wins 7-2 at San Antonio on March 20

Texas State wins 5-2 at San Marcos on March 13

2017

Texas State wins 11-8 at San Antonio on May 2

UTSA wins 9-1 at San Marcos on March 7

2016

Texas State wins 6-0 at San Antonio on May 3

Texas State wins 13-10 at San Marcos on April 5

UTSA wins 14-7 at San Antonio on March 15

2015

UTSA wins 10-8 at San Marcos on April 14

UTSA wins 5-4 at San Antoio on March 31

Texas State wins 11-7 at San Marcos on March 17

2014

UTSA wins 7-2 at San Antonio on April 15

Texas State wins 7-6 at San Marcos on April 1

2013

Texas State wins 12-3 at San Antonio on May 5

Texas State wins 13-8 at San Antonio on May 4

UTSA wins 3-2 at San Antonio on May 3

Texas State wins 6-0 at San Marcos on March 5

2012

UTSA wins 4-0 in San Marcos on May 13

Texas State wins 4-3 in San Marcos on May 12

Texas State wins 8-3 in San Marcos on May 11

2011

Texas State wins 7-6 in San Antonio on May 8

Texas State wins 9-7 in San Antonio on May 7

Texas State wins 3-0 in San Marcos on May 6

Is there hope for the Missions after an 0-6 homestand?

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It’s hard to find too many bright spots for the San Antonio Missions this week. When they weren’t kicking balls around in the infield on defense, they were hitting weak grounders on offense. But as the ball club takes a few days off before starting a series at Amarillo on Tuesday, I did see a few things worth noting as Saturday afternoon turned to Saturday night. Here they are, in a video sequence:

Felipe is a guy that just has a presence about him. He is big and tall and can throw really hard. In this case, Felipe also kept his cool, making a nice pitch to get the batter to hit it softly to the infield to start the twin-killing.

Howell has had a really tough go of it lately. After getting traded from the Brewers organization to the Padres 10 days ago, he has struggled mightily at the plate. Howell homered in his first game with the team on April 10. But on the homestand, he couldn’t get it going at all. He made some errors on defense, too. But he didn’t hang his head, kept playing hard and made two really nice plays as shown in the video clips above.

If you liked the breaking ball that Felipe threw to Duran in the video above, wait until you see the one he threw for the third strike.

After the game, I asked Missions pitching coach Pete Zamora about Felipe, who is 6-feet-7 and 240 pounds and every bit the physical specimen. Specifically, what is his best pitch?

“We’re talking about a guy with an upper-90s fastball, who can hit triple digits,” the coach said. “Obviously people would say his fastball is his best pitch. But, when he does have his slider going, I think it’s equal as his 100 mph. When he’s got ’em both going, he’s extremely tough.”

Felipe worked two innings against Frisco, allowing no runs on two hits, one of them fisted into right field. He walked one and struck out one. For the season, in three outings, he has struck out five and walked three in four innings. Hits? Just three. Earned runs? Zero.

Even though it’s a small sample size of work, considering the length of the season, the Missions coaches are happy with his development.

“We saw him in spring training,” Zamora said. “We liked the arm, obviously. For a bigger guy, he’s pretty athletic. Smart kid. I’ve talked pitching with him. His English is very good. We’ve got good dialogue with him. He knows what he wants to do. Very confident.

“He still has things to work on like they all do down here. But we’re real happy with the way he’s progressing and going after hitters.”

Leiter fans four in a four-inning no decision as Frisco beats San Antonio

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Frisco RoughRiders pitcher Jack Leiter experienced some early wildness but settled down to pitch four fairly clean innings Saturday afternoon at Wolff Stadium.

Leiter, the No. 2 overall pick in the baseball draft last summer by the Texas Rangers, gave up one run on one hit and three walks. Showing off a crackling high fastball, he struck out four.

In his second game as pro, the former All-American at Vanderbilt threw 75 pitches, and 42 of them were strikes. He left the game with a 4-1 lead.

Trailing 2-0, the Missions got to Leiter for a run in the bottom of the second. Yorman Rodriguez led off with a double to deep center field.

Rodriguez moved to third on a ground ball by Tirso Ornelas and scored on a grounder by Connor Hollis. Leiter struck out Chris Givin to end the threat.

In the third inning, Leiter found trouble again with back-to-back, one-out walks to Esteury Ruiz and Korry Howell. When Ruiz walked, he stole second, and then Howell was issued his free pass.

The next two batters hit the ball hard. Brandon Dixon flied to right field, moving Ruiz to third. With Walding at the plate, Howell stole second, putting two men in scoring position with two out.

Walding followed by driving a ball deep to center that was run down by the Rough Riders’ J.P. Martinez on the warning track.

In the fourth inning, Leiter set down the Missions 1-2-3.

First, Rodriguez smashed a ball hard to center that was caught. Next, Tirso Ornelas was caught looking at strike three. Finally, Hollis grounded sharply to shortstop Ezequiel Duran.

The Missions rallied with two runs in the sixth. But the Rough Riders held on to win the seven-inning game, 4-3.

Through two games, Leiter has worked seven innings, and he’s yielded two runs (both earned) on only two hits. He’s had some control problems, walking five. But his fastball and breaking pitches have been good, as he’s struck out 11.

One scout told a Missions staffer that Leiter was throwing as hard as 97 mph.

Notable

Before the start of the doubleheader, a broadcaster for the Frisco RoughRiders said that the ball club would not make Leiter available to speak with the media.

Frisco reliever Grant Wolfram was the winning pitcher and Nick Starr picked up the save. Missions starter Thomas Eshelman took the loss.

Eschelman worked all seven innings and gave up 12 hits. All four runs were earned. He walked none and struck out two.

Rangers prospect Jack Leiter to start today at Wolff Stadium

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Pregame

Heralded Texas Rangers pitching prospect Jack Leiter, a gifted athlete who always “seemed to have the game in his blood,” is expected to take the mound in San Antonio for the first time today.

Leiter (0-0, 3.00 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Frisco RoughRiders in the first game of a Texas League doubleheader at Wolff Stadium against the San Antonio Missions.

He’ll opoose Thomas Eshelman (1-0, 1.80) of the Missions, with the first pitch set for 5:05 p.m.

In Leiter’s ballyhooed professional debut last Saturday at Frisco, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Rangers organization threw 60 pitches in three innings in an 8-7 victory over the Arkansas Travelers.

Leiter, the No. 17 overall prospect in baseball, allowed one run on one hit and walked two. Showing off tremendous stuff, the 21-year-old righthander struck out seven of the 12 batters he faced.

One day in the not-too-distant future, Leiter figures to be a top-of-the-rotation starter in the big leagues.

But at this stage of his career, RoughRiders manager Jared Goedert says he doesn’t even want to verbalize the organization’s expectations for him.

“I think expectations can be dangerous,” he said.

In essence, Goedert just wants Leiter to do what he has always done as a player. Prepare. Work hard. Execute.

“We need him to just to go be himself,” Goedert said.

Goedert said he has confidence that Leiter will fare well for however long he pitches at the Double-A level with the RoughRiders.

“He has such a great repertoire of pitches that, if he can go out and execute those and be consistent with that, to me, that’s going to be a successful year for him,” the manager said. “I think he’ll do that, especially once he gets settled in … We want him to feel like he’s like one of 28 guys on our active roster.

“It doesn’t have to be him and 27 other guys. He’s a Frisco RoughRider, just like everybody else.”

When Leiter showed up for his debut last weekend at Frisco, he learned that the ball club had promoted his arrival with ‘Jack Pack’ ticket deals, T-shirts and a ‘K-card’ distribution for the first 1,500 fans.

Goedert said he thinks Leiter handled it as well as could be expected.

“I would say with the amount of buildup and hype and expectation, I was pretty impressed,” Goedert said. “They really promoted it (and we) had a really, really good crowd, especially for the first Saturday night of the year.

“I think he’d be the first to admit he probably needed to get in the strike zone more early with hitters. Because he didn’t, his pitch count got up there.

“But, overall … being able to shoulder all of that pressure, all of that expectation, to go about it like it was just another day at the office, it was pretty impressive.”

After the Pittsburgh Pirates selected University of Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the No. 1 pick last summer, the Rangers picked Leiter. Eventually, he signed for a reported $7.9 million.

In one season-plus at Vanderbilt University, Leiter produced a record of 13-4 with a 2.08 earned run average. He struck out 201 batters in 125 and 2/3 innings.

His record includes four games in the truncated 2020 season and then another 18 in 2021, when he went 11-4 with a 2.13 ERA.

For his efforts, he erned unanimous first-team All-American honors as well as being a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

Leiter is the son of former major leaguer Al Leiter. His father won 162 games in 19 seasons in the big leagues.

One of the most consistently good pitchers of his day, Al Leiter had double-figure victory totals for 10 straight seasons through 2004.

Al Leiter told a reporter last year at the College World Series that his son has “always loved the game” and also always seemed to have a good arm.

“When I was playing for the (New York) Mets, and going out to Shea Stadium, we lived on the upper East side (of Manhattan), and he always had a ball in his hand, he always had a glove,” Leiter said. “We’d go to the park (and) he’s throwing wall ball.

“So, it’s been kind of in his blood.”

Series at a glance

Tuesday — Frisco 6, San Antonio 4
Wednesday — Frisco 9, San Antonio 6
Thursday — Frisco 6, San Antonio 3
Friday — Frisco 7, San Antonio 3
Saturday — Doubleheader, 5:05 p.m.

Coming up

April 19-24 — San Antonio at Amarillo
April 26-May 1 — Springfield at San Antonio

Streaking UTSA hammers three home runs and downs Rice, 9-2

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The UTSA Roadrunners on Friday backed the pitching of Luke Malone with three home runs, rolling to a 9-2 Conference USA baseball victory over the Rice Owls.

As Malone pitched into the seventh inning, the Roadrunners’ offense hummed with homers from Jonathan Tapia, Chase Keng and Shane Sirdashney on the home field of their C-USA rivals.

As a result, the Roadrunners (23-11, 8-5) won their fourth straight game. They also improved to 10-1 in their last 11.

Meanwhile, the Owls (10-25, 3-10) will try to turn it around in the second game of the series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Houston, at Reckling Park. The series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m.

For Rice, Guy Garibay produced three hits and two RBIs. But the UTSA pitching duo of Malone and Braylon Owens held the upper hand. Malone (5-1) allowed only two runs on five hits in 6 and 1/3 innings.

Owens, a freshman, worked 2 and 2/3 scoreless to finish the game. He gave up two hits and walked three, but he also struck out four.

In addition, the Roadrunners’ defense played error-free baseball in winning for the sixth time in their last seven C-USA games.

Tapia led the offense with a three-for-five day and three RBIs. UTSA’s leadoff man supplied the big blow with a three-run homer in a four-run second inning.

Keng and Sirdashney were also three for five in a 13-hit attack.

Keng, from Deer Park High School, hit a solo home run in the third inning and Sirdashney, also a Houston area player from The Woodlands, added solo blast in the eighth.

Frisco’s Lee re-invented his delivery, and his career came alive

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Fall baseball tryouts at major schools in NCAA Division I usually don’t produce too many success stories.

Most of the time, tryouts end with players walking off the field and into a life outside the game.

Chase Lee was rejected once at the University of Alabama and nearly didn’t go back.

“After the tryout, I gave myself about a month, and I thought about it,” he said. “Was it worth it, getting my pride shot again? Getting told you weren’t good enough? Again?”

Lee decided he’d stay with it. At the suggestion of Alabama coach Brad Bohannon, he ditched his over-hand delivery and started to throw from the side.

He ended up making the team on the second try, played three years on varsity for the Crimson Tide and turned himself into one of the top relief pitchers in school history.

Now the 6-foot, 170-pounder is in his second year with the Frisco RoughRiders, and he’s still turning heads.

“He’s a good pitcher,” Frisco manager Jared Goedert said. “He’s got good stuff.”

On Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium, Lee pitched scoreless ball in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the save.

His stuff in the ninth was impressive. With the RoughRiders leading by two runs, and with two runners aboard, he struck out Missions standout Esteury Ruiz looking to end the game.

Ruiz was frozen on a sinker that started out wide and broke back into the zone.

“Honestly, the slider has been the bread-and-butter pitch since I started throwing from that slot,” Lee said. “It’s really helped me get right-handed hitters out. The sinker really allows me to keep them off of it.

“Actually, the way it’s shaped now, it’s turned into a pitch I can get away with. In year’s past, it was something I had to (use) to set up the slider. I feel like I can throw it for a strike and not get hurt.”

Lee has two saves in two save opportunities this season and a 0.00 earned run average. In two years, he’s got five saves in six chances. In his brief pro career as a prospect with the Texas Rangers, his ERA is 3.00.

Goedert said he likes the way that Lee, a sixth-round draft choice last summer, is coming along in his development.

“He’s funky enough, with his arm slot,” Goedert said. “But then his … fastball and his slider, they stay on the same track. They can go one or two ways.”

Meaning that, if a hitter guesses wrong, Lee usually wins the battle.

Notable

The Missions have lost three straight on the homestand to the RoughRiders going into Game 4 of a six-game series Friday night.

Late Thursday, the RoughRiders scored four unearned runs in the eighth inning to win, 6-3. An error by Missions shortstop Korry Howell led to the uprising, which included a three-run homer by Jordan Procyshen.

Pitcher Jack Leiter, the No. 1 prospect in the Texas Rangers’ minor league system, is scheduled to start the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

Series at a glance

Tuesday — Frisco 6, San Antonio 4
Wednesday — Frisco 9, San Antonio 6
Thursday — Frisco 6, San Antonio 3

Coming up

Friday — Frisco at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday — Frisco at San Antonio, doubleheader, 5:05 p.m.