By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Paul Smith drew a bases-loaded walk with two out in the 10th inning to force in the winning run, and the Rice Owls claimed a 3-2 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners Thursday night in American Conference baseball at Reckling Park.
With UTSA ace reliever Sam Simmons on the mound, Rice’s Landis Davila executed a one-out bunt single. Cole Green followed by fisting a ball off his bat handle that squibbed through the right side.
On the play, Davila advanced all the way to third. After Green advanced to second on defensive indifference, UTSA elected to walk Colin Robson intentionally to load the bases.
UTSA made a play at that point to cut off a run and get the second out of the inning. On a ground ball to second base, the throw came home to force a base runner at the plate.
After an umpire’s review, apparently to determine whether UTSA catcher Andrew Stucky had control of the ball, the call was allowed to stand.
Smith subsequently worked the count to 3-1 and then took a called second strike from Simmons. The next pitch was outside, allowing Green to score the winning run.
UTSA has played three straight games in which the outcome has been decided in walk-off fashion on the last play.
The Roadrunners split the first two, beating the East Carolina Pirates 8-7 in 10 innings Sunday at home on Caden Miller’s RBI single, and then losing Tuesday on the road to the UIW Cardinals, 13-11, on a three-run homer by Cole Tabor.
In the first game of a series at Rice’s Reckling Park, the pitching on both sides was top notch for most of the evening.
Rice starter and Tennessee transfer Tanner Wiggins worked seven innings and scattered 10 hits, allowing two runs, only one of them earned.
Another former Tennessee pitcher, Brayden Sharp, earned the win in hurling the last three innings scoreless, allowing only one hit.
The Rice duo was particularly tough with runners on base, limiting UTSA to 3-for-19 in those situations. The Roadrunners were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring positions.
UTSA, in the end, left nine runners stranded.
A painful sequence for the Roadrunners unfolded in the top of the 10th when Jacob Silva drew a two-out walk.
After he stole second base, the throw from the catcher got away, but Rice second baseman JC Davis retrieved it and made a heads-up play. He fired to third to end the inning, erasing Silva, who was trying to advance.
For UTSA, freshman pitcher Ryan Self allowed a run in the first inning and then yielded to Gunnar Brown, who worked the next six frames.
Brown, retiring 10 in a row at one point, permitted only a run on four hits through the seventh inning.
Simmons took the loss in two and two thirds of an inning. He yielded one run on two hits, with two walks and a strikeout.
Records
UTSA 20-10, 4-3
Rice 19-12, 4-3
Coming up
UTSA at Rice, Friday, 6:35 p.m.
UTSA at Rice, Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
Notable
UTSA cleanup hitter Andrew Stucky had four hits, including a second-inning solo homer. It was his eighth homer of the season and his second in his last two games.
Roadrunners left fielder Drew Detlefsen threw out a Rice baserunner trying to score from second in the second inning, his second assist on a throw from left field in the last two weeks.
He fielded a ball hit into left field on the bounce, reached back and fired home to Stucky, the catcher, for the out. Detlefsen did the same thing on March 24 at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, with Jacob Silva receiving the throw.
Rice beat UTSA for the first time since April of 2024 and broke a five-game losing streak against the Roadrunners. UTSA went 4-0 against Rice last season.
For the second straight week, UTSA has lost a weekend series opener in the American.
Last Friday, the East Carolina Pirates won 3-0 at UTSA, only to see the Roadrunners bounce back to take the next two to clinch their 13th straight series victory in conference play.