UTSA-Charlotte elimination game set for Saturday morning

Officials announced Friday night that an elimination game between UTSA and Charlotte at the Conference USA tournament has been postponed because of weather concerns and will be played at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Southern Miss defeated UTSA 5-3 earlier in the day, sending the Roadrunners into the losers’ bracket.

UTSA is 1-1 in the tournament after beating Charlotte 11-1 on Thursday and then losing to Southern Miss, the top seed.

After losing to UTSA, Charlotte defeated UAB 2-0 in a game that started late Thursday night and finished early Friday mornning.

The tournament is being held at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss.

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles choked off a ninth-inning UTSA rally Friday and downed the Roadrunners 5-3 in a winners’ bracket game at the Conference USA tournament.

With the loss, UTSA was sent tumbling into the losers’ bracket, where they will face the Charlotte 49ers tonight. Estimated game time is 9 p.m. The tournament is being played in Biloxi, Miss.

Slugging Matt Wallner hurt the Roadrunners with a home run and a single and two RBI. Hunter Slater also contributed three of the Golden Eagles’ 12 hits.

Tony Beam ripped a two-run homer for UTSA. But Southern Miss pitching held UTSA in check most of the day, allowing eight hits.

Lefthander Stevie Powers (5-1) earned the victory with seven innings of work. He left the game leading 4-2. Trent Driver pitched the last two inninngs for the save.

The Roadrunners made it interesting by scoring a run off Driver in the bottom of the eighth to pull within 4-3. The Golden Eagles retaliated in the top of the ninth with a run to account for the final margin.

In the bottom half, UTSA put two runners on base, only to ground into a game-inning double play. Southern Miss third baseman Luke Reynolds fielded a ground ball, tagged a base runner, executed a spin move and threw to first for the final out.

Starting pitcher Steven Dressler (5-4) worked five innings and took the loss for the Roadrunners.


Southern Miss third baseman Luke Reynolds, the C-USA Player of the Year, executes a sensational game-ending double play.

Records

UTSA 32-22
Southern Miss 41-15

Notebook

UTSA stroked 18 hits in defeating Charlotte 11-1 to open the tournament on Thursday. The bats weren’t quite as hot against Southern Miss.

Golden Eagles pitching limited the Roadrunners to eight hits.

UTSA senior and team RBI leader Ben Brookover hasn’t played in either game. No word yet on the reason for his absence.


UTSA second baseman Aldo Buendia, a former standout at Laredo Alexander, robs Matt Wallner of a hit with a leaping catch in the eighth inning. At the plate, Buendia is 3 for 8 in two games in the tournament. He is 6 for 16, hitting safely in his last four games overall.