UTSA knocking on door of NCAA tournament after win over Southern Miss

UTSA's Ryan Flores homered in the ninth inning for the winning run against Southern Miss in the Conference USA tournament on Friday, May 27, 2022. - file photo

UTSA’s Ryan Flores homered in the ninth inning for the winning run against Southern Miss in the Conference USA tournament on Friday, May 27, 2022. – file photo

(Updated with result of Game 9 and 10)

Expectations around UTSA were that the Roadrunners needed two wins in the Conference USA baseball tournament to be in strong position to earn an NCAA tournament at-large bid.

The ultimate outcome from UTSA’s standpoint would be to win the CUSA tournament and the automatic bid that comes with it.

UTSA claimed its second CUSA tournament win Friday morning in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Roadrunners beat top-seeded Southern Miss 7-6 in the winners bracket.

The Roadrunners (37-19) advanced to Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. CUSA tournament quarterfinals with a chance to advance to Sunday’s championship. They will face Southern Miss one more time.

A back-and-forth game came down to a solo home run by UTSA’s Ryan Flores in the top of the ninth. That broke a 6-6 tie. It was his third home run against Southern Miss this season – all on the Golden Eagles’ home field.

“Clearly he likes to hit here,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said in a postgame interview on ESPN+. “We played here two weeks ago. He hit the ball well here and they’ve got the best pitching staff in the league and one of the best staffs in the country. Flo just likes hitting here I guess so I hope he stays hot.”

Simon Miller (4-3) pitched the final 2 2/3 innings for UTSA to earn the win. He allowed one run on two hits.

The Roadrunners scored one or two runs in each of the last four innings in a game that stayed close the whole way.

Matt King and Jonathan Tapia hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the eighth – King scoring on Tapia’s hit to put UTSA in front 6-5. Southern Miss scored in the bottom of the inning to even it at 6-6.

“I’m a little flustered,” Hallmark said. “We didn’t play great. We made some mistakes. I think we played really hard.

“They’re (Southern Miss) tough. They’re playing at home. They got the crowd. Then we turned it back around.”

UTSA scored twice in the seventh. The Roadrunners took advantage of a two-run error. That set up a run by Leyton Barry from third on a ground ball and a run by Shane Sirdashney on a Josh Killeen hit.

The Roadrunners got a run in the sixth when Garrett Poston doubled in Chase Keng.

UTSA got on the board first with two runs in the top of the third. King scored from third on a fielder’s choice and Killeen singled in Barry.

RYAN FLORES VS. SOUTHERN MISS

UTSA has played Southern Miss four times in 2022 – all on the Golden Eagles’ home field in Hattiesburg. Flores had hits in all four games including home runs in three of four:

1st game – 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
2nd game – 2-3, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, HR
3rd game – 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, HR
4th game – 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, HR
Totals – 10-15, 8 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 HR

NOTABLE:

UTSA awaits the winner of Friday’s 5 p.m. elimination game. As of now, that could set up yet another meeting with Southern Miss, which faces Florida Atlantic.

UTSA had 12 hits including two each from Tapia, Barry, Flores, Killeen and King. The Roadrunners recorded three doubles.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Game 1: Old Dominion 18, Middle Tennessee 7 (7 innings)

Game 2: Louisiana Tech 4, Charlotte 0

Game 3: Southern Miss 4, UAB 3

Game 4: UTSA vs. Florida Atlantic, postponed until Thursday, 9 a.m.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Game 4: UTSA 6, Florida Atlantic 4

Game 5: Charlotte 22, Middle Tennessee 0

Game 6: Louisiana Tech 7, Old Dominion 2

Game 7: Florida Atlantic 11, UAB 1 (7 innings)

Game 8: Southern Miss vs. UTSA, postponed until Friday, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Game 8: UTSA 7, Southern Miss 6

Game 9: Old Dominion 13, Charlotte 4

Game 10: Southern Miss 5, Florida Atlantic 0

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 11: Lousiana Tech vs. Old Dominion, 9 a.m.

Game 12: UTSA vs. Southern Miss, 12:30 p.m.

Game 13: TBD, if necessary, 4 p.m.

Game 14: TBD, if necessary, 7:30

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 15: Championship, 1 p.m.

UTSA rides Malone, rallies to win opener in CUSA tournament

Luke Malone pitched nine innings in relief as UTSA beat FAU 6-4. He raised his season record to 7-3. - file photo

Luke Malone pitched nine innings in relief as UTSA beat FAU 6-4. He raised his season record to 7-3. – file photo

(Updated with results of Games 5, 6 and 7 and remaining schedule)

UTSA rallied twice to beat Florida Atlantic 6-4 on Thursday in the Conference USA baseball tournament.

The victory keeps UTSA in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. It also potentially strengthens UTSA’s argument for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.

UTSA (36-19) plays its next game Friday at 10 a.m. against top-seeded Southern Miss.

First pitch of the Roadrunners’ first-round game was delayed by 13 1/2 hours after Wednesday rain delays in Hattiesburg, Miss. pushed UTSA’s opener from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.

UTSA ace Luke Malone turned in a monster performance, pitching nine innings in relief. He entered the game with FAU runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the first. The two inherited runners scored as the Owls took their early lead.

“Luke was fabulous,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said in a postgame interview on ESPN+. “We need to do a little better with hitting with a man on third and one out. But we’re always looking for areas to improve. But the kids were gritty. They’ve been gritty all year.”

Malone limited FAU to two runs the rest of the way. He gave up six hits with four strikeouts and one walk and threw 107 pitches.

Florida Atlantic got two men on base in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. UTSA had two pitchers warming up in the bullen and Hallmark went to the mound to visit Malone. Hallmark stuck with Malone and the veteran right-hander from Round Rock finished the game with three straight scoreless innings.

“I just wanted to see how he felt,” Hallmark said. “He pitched a long time. So that was the first thing was just how he felt.

“He’s not going to tell me he doesn’t feel good. But I know him pretty well. I can look him in the eyes and see if he’s BSing or if he really feels good. And I believed him. He felt good. He looked good. His eyes didn’t look fatigued or anything. His heart rate was slow. We kept him in and fortunately it worked out.”

UTSA went in front for good with two runs in the top of the eighth. Matt King’s sacrifice fly scored Chase Keng to break a 4-4 tie. Jonathan Tapia added a two-out single that scored Ian Bailey from second to stretch the lead to 6-4.

UTSA scored twice in the top of the sixth to take its first lead of the game and go up 4-3. Killeen scored the go-ahead run on an error. Leyton Barry recorded his third hit of game to lead off the inning. He scored on an Bailey hit to tie it 3-3.

Florida Atlantic’s Nolan Schanuel hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to tie it 4-4.

UTSA loaded the bases in the top of the second. The Roadrunners scored with two outs on a ground ball that was mishandled to cut FAU’s lead to 2-1.

UTSA’s Keng hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth to even the game 2-2.

UTSA pitcher Braylon Owens made only his second start of the season and struggled to find the strike zone. He walked the two batters he faced and was replace by Malone.

Notable:

– Barry had hits in his first three times up. He was 4-for-4 on Saturday, so he had hits in seven straight at-bats over two games. He scored two of UTSA’s first four runs today.

– Keng also had three hits, including his ninth home run of the season.

– Bailey had three hits.

– UTSA finished with 13 hits. Florida Atlantic had six.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Game 1: Old Dominion 18, Middle Tennessee 7 (7 innings)

Game 2: Louisiana Tech 4, Charlotte 0

Game 3: Southern Miss 4, UAB 3

Game 4: UTSA vs. Florida Atlantic, postponed until Thursday, 9 a.m.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Game 4: UTSA 6, Florida Atlantic 4

Game 5: Charlotte 22, Middle Tennessee 0

Game 6: Louisiana Tech 7, Old Dominion 2

Game 7: Florida Atlantic 11, UAB 1 (7 innings)

Game 8: Southern Miss vs. UTSA, postponed until Friday, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 8: UTSA vs. Southern Miss, 10 a.m.

Game 9: Charlotte vs. Old Dominion, 1:30 p.m.

Game 10: UTSA-Southern Miss loser vs. Florida Atlantic, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 11: Lousiana Tech vs. TBD, 9 a.m.

Game 12: UTSA-Southern Miss winner vs. Game 10 winner, 12:30 p.m.

Game 13: TBD, if necessary, 4 p.m.

Game 14: TBD, if necessary, 7:30

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 15: Championship, 1 p.m.

Roadrunners move into second place in the C-USA standings

The UTSA Roadrunners cranked out four home runs to back the pitching of sophomore Daniel Garza Friday night, rolling to an early five-run lead en route to a 13-2 Conference USA victory over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

In a C-USA series opener at Reese Smith Jr. Field, in Murfreesboro, Tenn., UTSA’s Leyton Barry enjoyed a monster day with two home runs and five RBIs. Ryan Flores and Chase Keng also homered for the Roadrunners, who won their fifth straight game.

Garza (2-0) was masterful, throwing a career-high 85 pitches, while working into the sixth inning. In all, he pitched 5 and 2/3 innings and gave up one run on five hits. Garza walked one and struck out seven.

With the victory, the Roadrunners won for the 16th time in their last 19 games and moved into sole possession of second place in the conference standings, three games behind the fourth-ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

The Blue Raiders entered the game on a hot streak, having won two of three last week at Louisiana Tech to claim their fifth straight series victory in the conference. But while Garza was shutting down the home team early, Leyton Barry hit a solo home run in the third inning.

Flores hit a solo of his own in the fourth, and Barry followed later with a three-run shot, boosting UTSA into a 5-0 lead against Middle Tennessee starter Zach Keenan.

Records

UTSA 29-13, 13-6
Middle Tennessee 21-18, 11-8

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 16-3
UTSA 13-6
Louisiana Tech 12-7
Florida Atlantic 12-7
Old Dominion 11-8
Middle Tennessee 11-8

Coming up

Saturday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee State, 3 p.m.
Sunday — UTSA at Middle Tennessee State, 11 a.m.

UTSA edges second-ranked Stanford, 6-5, in 10 innings

UTSA's baseball team upset No. 2-ranked Stanford 6-5 in 10-innings on Leyton Barry's walk-off hit at Roadrunner Field.

The UTSA Roadrunners mob Leyton Barry in the outfield after his game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. — Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA baseball game at Roadrunner Field on Monday seemingly had it all. Quality weather and sunshine, with temperatures in the 60s. An elite-level opponent, with the nation’s second-ranked Stanford Cardinal in the house. Even quality trash talk in a spirited performance by fans of the home team.

UTSA's baseball team upset No. 2-ranked Stanford 6-5 in 10-innings on Leyton Barry's walk-off hit at Roadrunner Field.

How sweet it is. Leyton Barry reacts to his jubilant teammates after stroking a 3-1 pitch from Tommy O’Rourke into center field for an RBI single, lifting UTSA over a team that reached the 2021 College World Series. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Sometimes, it seemed as if the talk generated heightened performance on the field. For instance, when the Roadrunners loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth inning and Stanford reliever Max Meier threw three straight balls to UTSA’s Ian Bailey, the fans started a chant.

“One more ball,” they intoned. “One more ball.”

Meier wouldn’t have it. He reached back to find great stuff, and he struck out Bailey. The next batter, Leyton Barry, hit into a double play, ending a threat that could have expanded a two-run UTSA lead to four or five.

Instead, the Cardinal turned everything around. They tied the game with a monster two-run homer in the eighth, and their bullpen kept throwing strikes and frustrating the Roadrunners — until Barry came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning, that is.

With runners at first and third and nobody out, Barry ripped a liner that dropped behind center fielder Brock Jones, allowing Shane Sirdashney to race home with the winning run in a 6-5 victory.

Just like that, the Roadrunners, who had let so many one-run games get away from them last year, beat a team that played in the 2021 College World Series. And they beat them by one run, with a key hit to back their own quality relief pitching.

“Good ball game,” Stanford coach David Esquer said. “I thought they played a great game. They did a good job. All their pitchers they brought in threw strikes and kept us off balance. That’s a good club. It looks like (an NCAA) regional team to me.”

How it happened

Sirdashney led an 11-hit attack with three hits and two RBI. UTSA (7-1) also got two-hit performances by Jonathan Tapia and Garrett Poston and a 2-RBI double from Chase Keng to down Stanford (6-2) and end the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.

In the process, they extended their own streak to five.

As for the defense, well, the Roadrunners didn’t make an error, and their seven pitchers held an explosive Pac-12 team to six hits, the biggest blow coming in the eighth on the two-run homer by Carter Graham.

But in the end, it looked as if the Stanford bullpen, featuring lefty Ryan Bruno, who was throwing 95 mph fastballs that tailed away from right-handed hitters, might lock down the Roadrunners and allow the Cardinal to escape with the victory.

“I agree, their bullpen was fantastic,” said Barry, who was 1 for 6 with the winning hit. “But ours was, as well. That’s really the reason why we were able to win this game. Looking up at the scoreboard, Stanford only getting six hits against our pitchers, it’s what led us to the win.

“So you know, our bullpen was, frankly, better than theirs today. Which was fantastic for us.”

Last year, the Roadrunners boasted one of the most explosive offensive teams statistically in the nation and finished 22-26 because the pitching and sometimes the defense would falter. A lot of times it happened in the late innings.

On UTSA’s fifth game in four days, pitchers who carried the load included starter Ryan Beaird, plus Grant Miller, Drake Smith, Allen Smith, Daniel Shafer, Reece Easterling and John Chomko. Chomko pitched shutout ball in the ninth and tenth innings to earn the victory.

He didn’t allow a hit, walked only one and struck out four.

Touting a ‘new energy’

“We did have a lot of situations similar to this last year, that ended up going the other way,” Barry said. “We have a new team this year. But a lot of the guys are the same. For those of us who were here last year it feels fantastic to have a new energy in games like this.”

The victory was gratifying for UTSA coach Pat Hallmark. His Roadrunners won three games against top 25 teams last year. But, in beating a team ranked No. 2 in Monday morning’s Baseball America rankings, it was the best UTSA victory by opponent ranking since a 2012 game in which it defeated No. 1 Baylor at Wolff Stadium.

“It’s a good win, something to build on,” Hallmark said. “It’s a long season. But, I’m super happy for the players. More excited for them.”

Grateful for the opportunity

Hallmark said UTSA and Stanford made the deal to play at UTSA’s home field last October. Stanford, based in Palo Alto, Calif., had a three-game series scheduled for Feb. 25 through Feb. 27 in Round Rock.

“I knew one of their assistants, and he wanted to play before they flew out (to California),” Hallmark said, “and I said, ‘Heck yeah.’ We’d be more than happy to play. You tell me the time, and we’ll play.’

“So I’m grateful (to) them for wanting to play,” the coach added. “You know, this time of year, we need to play. People need to pitch, and we got about 13 hitters that I think deserve to play. It’s a challenging job, because they all deserve to play.

“Things are going great. Super happy for them.”

Records

UTSA 7-1
Stanford 6-2

Coming up

Friday — Southern at UTSA, 6 p.m.
Saturday — Southern at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Sunday — Southern at UTSA, 1 p.m.

Correction: Stanford’s double play to end the bottom of the fifth went 4-6-3 in the scorebook.

Flying Chanclas win 7-2 to stop a two-game skid

New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Jalen Battles started at second base against the Round Rock Hair Men on Friday, July 10, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Jalen Battles started at second base against Round Rock. The former Madison High School standout has committed to the University of Arkansas. – photo by Joe Alexander

Outfielder Leyton Barry on Friday hit the first home run of the season for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, who opened a three-game series against the Round Rock Hairy Men with a 7-2 victory at Wolff Stadium.

Barry delivered with his two-run shot in the seventh inning.

Playing with a revamped infield featuring newcomers Bryan Aguilar and Jalen Battles, the Chanclas unleashed a 10-hit attack to snap a two-game losing streak.

Runs-hits-errors

Round Rock 2 – 6 – 0
San Antonio 7 – 10 – 4

Please click the link to find a box score of Friday night’s game.

Coming up

San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Records

San Antonio 5-4
Round Rock 6-4

New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Bryan Aguilar started at shortstop against the Round Rock Hair Men on Friday, July 10, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas’ newcomer Bryan Aguilar, in his second game with the team, started at shortstop against Round Rock. – photo by Joe Alexander

Acadiana Cane Cutters no-hit the Flying Chanclas, 5-0

Three Acadiana Cane Cutters pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter in front of the home fans Wednesday night in a 5-0 victory over the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Set back by the loss of two injured starters, the Chanclas never got it going against the Cane Cutters, who pulled off the no-no on the strength of efforts by pitchers Brandon Mitchell, Nik Millsap and Hunter Meche.

The Texas Collegiate League game was played at Fabacher Field in Youngsville, Louisiana.

With the victory, the Cane Cutters snapped a four-game losing streak and avenged losing all three games against the Chanclas last weekend in San Antonio. The Chanclas had won four straight.

Mitchell, a left-hander, and Millsap, a righty, grew up in Texas. Mitchell, from Alief-Elsik High School, attends the University of New Orleans. Millsap, from South Lake Carroll, goes to college at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. Meche, a lefty from Rayne, La., attends LSU-Alexandria.

Mitchell worked 2 and 1/3 innings. In the third, he gave way to Millsap, who pitched 4 and 2/3 innings, striking out three. Meche finished up over the final two innings. The three combined for six walks and eight strikeouts.

The Chanclas had runners at first and second with one out in the ninth against Meche. But the 5-foot-9 lefty settled down, retiring Lee Thomas and Grant Smith both on outfield fly balls to end it.

San Antonio entered the game without their leading hitter, Porter Brown, and their starting third baseman, Conner Shepherd. Brown is out for the season and Shepherd is out for at least a week. Both have finger injuries.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 0 – 0 – 4
Acadiana 5 – 4 – 1

Please click the link for Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 4-3
Acadiana 2-5


Pregame

Forced to make adjustments in the wake of two key injuries, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio will put a four-game winning streak on the line tonight.

They’re playing the home-standing Acadiana Cane Cutters. Youngsville is located about 10 miles south of Lafayette.

In the wake of injuries to standouts Porter Brown and Conner Shepherd, Chanclas manager John McLaren sent out a lineup card with Leyton Barry starting in left field for Porter Brown, who is out for the season with a broken finger.

Tyler LaRue will start at third base for Conner Shepherd, who is out for at least a week, also with a finger injury.

Brown, leading the Chanclas with a .375 batting average, had been in the top spot in the batting order, with Jordan Thompson hitting second. Tonight, Thompson is leading off with second baseman Johnny Hernandez batting second.

Tuesday night’s series opener between the teams was canceled due to unfavorable field conditions, meaning the teams will play tonight and Thursday night. The Chanclas swept three games from the Cane Cutters last weekend in San Antonio.

Chanclas starters

Jordan Thompson RF
Johnny Hernandez 2B
Ryan Flores 1B
Kyte McDonald CF
Tyler LaRue 3B
Lee Thomas DH
Grant Smith SS
Leyton Barry LF
Nick Wolff C
Austin Krob P

Barry sparks eight-run inning as Chanclas claim first TCL victory

Leyton Barry was batting .353 when the pandemic cut short his season at UTSA in March.

Barry produced three hits in a 12-hit attack Thursday night to lead the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio to their first victory in the Texas Collegiate League.

Jordan Thompson and Barry produced two-run singles in an eight-run, eighth inning as the Chanclas rolled to an 11-5 victory at Amarillo.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 11 – 12 – 1
Amarillo 5 – 8 – 2

Please click the link for Thursday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 1-2
Amarillo 2-1

Coming up

The Chanclas open at home Friday night against the Acadiana Cane Cutters. Please click the link here for policies related to COVID-19 precautions.

Notable

The Chanclas had only eight hits combined in their first two games, including just two in a 1-0 loss Wednesday night.

Manager John McLaren made an adjustment, moving Porter Brown from second to first in the batting order. Conversely, he moved Thompson from the No. 1 hole to No. 2.

Both Brown and Thompson picked up two hits apiece. Kite McDonald and Lee Thomas also had a pair of hits for the Chanclas.