By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Pitcher Sam Simmons entered in relief in the top of the ninth inning and retired three straight batters on ground balls, as the UTSA Roadrunners quelled a rally and held off the Ohio State Buckeyes, 6-5, on Friday afternoon in Houston.

As a result, the Roadrunners will take an 8-1 record into their second game of the BRUCE BOLT College Classic on Saturday afternoon at Daikin Park against ninth-ranked Coastal Carolina.

Coach Pat Hallmark’s UTSA Roadrunners improved to 8-1 after beating Ohio State 6-5 on Friday in Houston. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Daikin Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros, is hosting the multi-team event over three days through Sunday. UTSA is playing in the invitational for the first time following its run last season to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Coming from behind against the Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference, the Roadrunners produced two-out hits in both the sixth and seventh innings, scoring two runs on each, to take a 5-3 lead.

Designated hitter Garrett Gruell stroked a two-RBI single in the sixth and then Lane Haworth blasted a two-run homer in the seventh. In the eighth, the Roadrunners manufactured a run, thanks to the speed of Christian Hallmark.

First, Hallmark was hit by a pitch. Next, he stole second. With one out, Diego Diaz came to bat for UTSA and chopped a ground ball to the right side.

When Ohio State first baseman Steven Cavaco touched first base for the second out of the inning, the coach’s son didn’t slow down on a mad dash for home plate.

Diving head first, he was tagged by catcher Mason Eckelman, but the ball popped out as the hard-charging base runner made impact with the glove. He touched home to make it 6-3.

In the ninth, the Buckeyes put their first two batters aboard against UTSA’s Mike DeBattista on an infield single by Miles Vandenheuvel and a double to left by Lee Ellis.

With runners at second and third and nobody out, Simmons, who played in high school at Houston-area Manvel, entered the game to pitch.

Ground balls by Eckelman and Noah Furcht pushed across one run apiece, but Simmons finished the game when Henry Kaczmar bounced out to second.

Defending American Conference champion UTSA (8-1) is scheduled to play Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon and Baylor on Sunday night.

Coastal Carolina, from the Sun Belt Conference, won the 2016 national title and last season reached the championship round before falling to LSU at the Men’s College World Series.

The Chanticleers ran into trouble Friday night in their first game, as the third-ranked Texas Longhorns hit four home runs and beat them 8-1. Coastal Carolina will take a 6-3 record into the UTSA game.

Records

Ohio State 5-3
UTSA 8-1

Coming up

UTSA vs. Coastal Carolina, Saturday, 3:05 p.m.
UTSA vs. Baylor, Sunday, 6:05 p.m.

The road to Houston

The Roadrunners opened the season with seven straight victories at home.

Included in the record start were three consecutive victories over Dallas Baptist, a perennial NCAA tournament team. Playing on the road Tuesday in San Marcos, they lost 7-2 to the Texas State Bobcats.

Lane Haworth hit a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning to give UTSA a 5-3 lead. He blasted his first homer in a UTSA uniform into the right field seats at Daikin Park. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Ohio State started its season with three straight wins in Pensacola, Fla., against Saint Louis.

The Buckeyes next played four straight in Memphis. They lost the first and third games in the event to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and won the second and fourth games against the Memphis Tigers.

Notable

Starting pitchers for UTSA and Ohio State put on a good show. UTSA’s Connor Kelley battled with control problems early, but he made it through four and a third innings, allowing three runs on six hits.

Though Kelley walked four, he showcased a high-velocity fastball, striking out seven in a 105-pitch performance.

For Ohio State, Gavin Kuzniewski pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out five.

Roadrunners relief pitchers held their own.

After Noah Furcht blasted a one-out, solo homer off Kelley in the top of the fifth to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead, UTSA lefthander Christopher Gutierrez entered and struck out both batters he faced to close the inning.

Winning pitcher Mike DeBattista (2-0) worked three innings, yielding two runs on five hits and no walks, while striking out two. DeBattista was lifted in the ninth after giving up an infield single to Miles Vandenheuvel and a double to Lee Ellis.

Replacing DeBattista, Simmons secured his first save of the season after he retired Mason Eckelman and Furcht on ground balls, with both of them pushing runs across, before getting Henry Kaczmar on a bouncer to second.

Ohio State reliever Zak Sigman (1-1) took the loss after giving up the go-ahead, two-run homer to Lane Haworth, a Wichita State transfer who entered the game as UTSA’s leading hitter.

Both Haworth and Garrett Gruell finished with two hits and two RBIs apiece.

Ohio State out-hit UTSA, 11-7. The Buckeyes showed good pop on offense with five hits going for extra bases. Ellis had two hits, both of them doubles. Furcht homered into the Crawford boxes and drove in two in a two-for-five performance.

Also getting two hits apiece were Kaczmar and Maddix Simpson. Kaczmar singled up the middle in the top of the first inning to give Ohio State a 2-0 lead.