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UTSA women open at home with a 64-41 rout of Texas State

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Mia Hammonds. UTSA women's basketball beat Texas State 64-41 on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Six-foot-three sophomore Mia Hammonds scored 14 of her career-high 16 points in the first half. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Mia Hammonds led a rejuvenated offense in the first half. Cheyenne Rowe lit up the scoreboard after intermission.

On top of all that, the UTSA women played suffocating defense for most of the 40 minutes as the Roadrunners routed the Texas State Bobcats 64-41 in their home opener Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

Rowe, a 6-2 senior forward, scored 15 of her 16 points after intermission, as the defending champions in the American Conference cruised to their first win of the season and the 350th in the career of Coach Karen Aston.

Banners honoring the accomplishments of UTSA's 2024-25 women's basketball team are unfurled on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Banners honoring the accomplishments of UTSA’s 2024-25 women’s basketball team are unfurled on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Rowe had ample help from Hammonds, a 6-3 sophomore from Steele, who had 14 of her career-high 16 in the first half.

Hammonds sparked the attack in the first two quarters with six of seven shooting.

She finished with the best game of her career as UTSA bounced back from two road losses last week, at Texas Tech and Houston.

The road trip was a tough one. In Lubbock, against Texas Tech, UTSA took a 79-52 pounding last Thursday night.

On Saturday in Houston, the Roadrunners played well defensively but fell short, 52-48, because of an offense that misfired all night.

“I think it’s just good to be back home,” Aston said. “We haven’t had a true home game. We started out on the road, and it was a long week last week.

“We were all very excited about being home. We like playing here, so it was a fun day for us.”

Jordyn Jenkins (left) and Nina De Leon Negron, both members of last season's UTSA women's basketball team, watch as the 2024-25 American Conference championship banner is unfurled on Thursday at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordyn Jenkins (left) and Nina De Leon Negron, both members of last season’s championship team, watch as the 2024-25 American Conference championship banner is unfurled at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The day held meaning on multiple levels.

Not only was it a career milestone for Aston and a coming out of sorts for a talented young player in Hammonds, it also gave the team a boost at a critical juncture, with the next three games away from home.

In addition, it lent some substance to pre-game festivities staged to commemorate last season’s 26-5 tour de force.

Free-flowing nostalgia

At the beginning of the evening, with 1,221 fans in the stands, the nostalgia flowed freely.

A video played on the big screen showing highlights of the UTSA’s run to the 2024-25 American Conference women’s basketball title.

To cap off the ceremony, banners were unfurled in the rafters, one of them commemorating the title and the other noting the program’s trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.

As the current crop of UTSA players watched, something obviously was stirring inside them.

Karen Aston. UTSA women's basketball beat Texas State 64-41 on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Karen Aston hit a milestone with the 350th victory of her career. — Photo by Joe Alexander

“I almost cried,” Rowe said. “That was nice. That was a moment you just can’t get normally. Being a player, that’s all you want.”

A few possessions into the game, guard Damara Allen drained a three pointer. Then, another.

Her teammate, Hammonds, sank a couple of easy layups, one on a sweet assist from Rowe on a back-cut to the basket.

With former UTSA stars Jordyn Jenkins and Nina De Leon Negron seated at courtside, Hammonds kept on scoring, hitting one three out of the corner and once racing on the dribble past a couple of Texas State defenders to score a layup.

“Coast to coast,” the public address announcer exclaimed.

For the half, the Roadrunners shot 14 of 25 from the field and four of seven from behind the 3-point arc, a dramatic improvement from the team’s first two games of the season.

On the season-opening road trip, UTSA shot a combined 35 for 111 from the field and six for 37 from three.

Against the Bobcats, the Roadrunners’ offense started off hot but cooled off to finish 23 of 47 afield and four of nine at the arc.

Deja Jones, a guard from East Central High School, led Texas State with 11 points against UTSA on Thursday at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Deja Jones, a guard who once played at East Central High School, UTSA and Indiana State, led Texas State with 11 points. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“It was a fun day to celebrate the banner and kind of close the chapter on that moving forward,” Aston said. “I thought we actually played really well, in particular, defensively.

“I was pleased at how we made their shots difficult. On the other hand, we had some really good glimpses offensively and a lot that needed to be looked at.

“We’re just a work in progress on that end because we’ve got a lot of players that haven’t played together, and they’re getting to know each other and where (they) like the ball.

“We had some glimpses that were really good but we obviously have got a lot of work to do.”

Records

Texas State 0-3
UTSA 1-2

Coming up

UTSA at Incarnate Word, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Individuals

Texas State — Forward Deja Jones, who once played at East Central High School and at UTSA in San Antonio, led the Bobcats with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Jones was held to five of 22 shooting. Forward Kyra Anderson had 10 points and eight rebounds. Guard Saniya Burks, who was averaging 22 points, was held to seven on three of 12 shooting.

UTSA – Hammonds finished with 16 points on seven of 11 shooting. She also had five rebounds, three blocks and five turnovers. Rowe had 16 on six of eight afield and also produced eight rebounds and four assists. Idara Udo had nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Emilia Dannebauer had six points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.

Cheyenne Rowe. UTSA women's basketball beat Texas State 64-41 on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Cheyenne Rowe scored 15 of her 16 points in the second half. She had the fans on their feet with a flurry of sweet post moves and short jumpers at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Notable

Opening her 18th year as a head coach, Karen Aston improved to 350-208. Her teams have a 17-game winning streak going at home, dating to the end of the 2023-24 season, including 13-0 last season.

Quotable

Mia Hammonds said having Jordyn Jenkins and Nina De Leon Negron at the game and at team practices served as a boost. “They’ve been a lot of help this week at our practices,” she said. “From being from a winning team last year, like, I just wanted to win for them. I heard them on the sideline. They were talking the whole game.”

Banner day: UTSA women to commemorate 2024-25 championship season

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball will unveil banners to commemorate the 2024-25 season tonight in a pregame ceremony ahead of a 6:30 game against Texas State.

Two banners will hang from the rafters, one for the team’s regular-season championship in the American Conference and another for the program’s inaugural appearance in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.

Last season, the Roadrunners forged a 26-5 record to set a school record for victories. In addition, they won the title in the American at 17-1.

Included in the season were other milestones, which includes extending a homecourt winning streak to 16 games. The streak dates back to the end of the 2023-24 season and includes a perfect 13-0 home record last year.

UTSA (0-2) will try to extend the streak tonight when it meets Texas State (0-2) in a continuation of the I-35 rivalry.

The Roadrunners opened last week with road losses at Texas Tech and Houston. Tech routed UTSA 79-52 last Thursday. On Saturday, the Roadrunners played better but came up short at Houston, falling 52-48.

The Bobcats lost their opener on Nov. 3, falling at home to Ohio, 72-66. They played at Texas Tech on Sunday and were blown out, 83-50.

Records

Texas State 0-2
UTSA 0-2

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, tonight, 6:30

Notable

The Roadrunners on Thursday announced an addition to the roster for this season, 5-3 guard Marie Han from Austin Vista Ridge High School. Han spent last season at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College.

On Wednesday, they announced the signing of 6-2 forward Amaya McDonald from Braswell High School in Aubrey, Tex. McDonald is expected to join the team next season. Her hometown is in Shreveport, La.

Texas State hits the boards late to hold off UTSA, 80-69

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas State Bobcats shot with a high rate of efficiency early, and then they hit the offensive boards relentlessly in the second half Wednesday night en route to an 80-69 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

In the men’s college basketball game played at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, the Roadrunners fell behind by 17 points early and climbed back into contention gradually, pulling to within six three times in the last 11 minutes.

A jumper out of the corner by Brent Moss trimmed the Texas State lead to 67-61 with 4:17 remaining.

In retaliation, Bobcats freshman forward Robert Fields made a big play on the other end. He followed his own miss from close range and passed out to Dimp Pernell, who knocked down a corner three, boosting the lead back to nine.

UTSA never came closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Pernell, a junior transfer out of Jones College in Ellisville, Miss., came off the bench to score 19 points to lead five Texas State players in double figures.

Kaden Gumbs, DJ Hall, Franck Emmou and Makai Willis all scored 11 for the Bobcats, who won their first game of the season against NCAA Division I competition and improved to 2-2.

For the Roadrunners, who fell to 1-2, Jamir Simpson knocked down four 3-pointers and scored a season high 22. Freshman Kaidon Rayfield, continuing to play well, added 16 points and nine boards. Off the bench, Brent Moss scored 12 and Baboucarr Njie added 11 for UTSA.

Njie, a sophomore from Dayton, Ohio, was productive on both ends, collecting four rebounds and two blocks in 34 minutes.

In the early going, the Roadrunners couldn’t contain the Bobcats’ offense. Texas State hit five of its first six shots from the field and seven of its first 11.

From there, the home team knocked down a series of free throws and held a 25-8 lead when Willis sank a jumper with 8:42 remaining in the half.

In an effort to stop the barrage, UTSA switched to a zone defense, forced some misses and pulled to within 12 points at intermission.

After halftime, the Roadrunners stayed in the zone for much of the remainder of the game.

And while the ploy was effective in keeping the Bobcats from shooting it as well, they found another way to win, utilizing their quickness to hit the boards on missed shots to create more opportunities.

In the second half, Texas State out-rebounded UTSA 27-18, including 11-5 on the offensive glass, which in large part led to 14 second-chance points.

By beating the Roadrunners, the Bobcats have played well now in two straight games against teams from the American Conference. On Saturday night, they led in the first half in New Orleans at Tulane before falling 77-71.

Now they’ve opened a five-game homestand with a victory over their I-35 rivals.

“You can’t give a good team like Texas State a 17-point lead in the first half,” Coach Austin Claunch told the UTSA broadcast team in his post-game interview. “They’ve been playing really well.”

UTSA, in turn, has been struggling to make even modest improvements. In a 77-60 home loss to SIU Edwardsville last Friday, the Roadrunners shot poorly from the field (28.2 percent), from three (24.1) and from the free throw line (61.9).

Against Texas State, they misfired on 15 of their first 20 shots from the field but finished the game by making a respectable 20 of 39. But for the game, a 39 percent effort wasn’t good enough to off-set the Bobcats’ 47-33 dominance in rebounding.

Asked in the postgame if he could point out the bright spots, Claunch said, “You love to see the fight. You love to see them battle. I’ll be honest with you, (those) were some of the best huddles we’ve had. Just the engagement.”

Claunch said he liked Njie’s engagement with his teammates, particularly, in pushing Moss down the stretch.

“I thought Bab Njie did a great job from a leadership standpoint, just talking and getting guys (to keep playing hard),” the coach said. “Like, that’s Brent Moss. He’s had some (moments.) I haven’t done a good job getting him acclimated and probably giving him enough of a chance.

“Today, he showed what he can do.”

Records

Texas State 2-2
UTSA 1-2

Coming up

UTSA at Denver, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Notable

Combined with a 72-62 win on Nov. 27, 2023, Texas State has won two straight in the I-35 rivalry series against UTSA. With Wednesday’s victory, the Bobcats improved to 37-27 against the Roadrunners all time, dating back to 1985.

For the third straight game to start the season, UTSA guard Vasean Allette wasn’t available to play. Claunch most recently attributed his absence to health issues.

The coach said Monday he expects Allette to play this season. “He’ll be in a ‘Runners uniform soon enough,” Claunch said. The 6-2 guard, a starter last season at TCU, is regarded as UTSA’s top offseason pickup out of the transfer portal.

Guard Austin Nunez continued to struggle with his shot from the field, misfiring on all seven attempts, some of them on wide open looks. Nunez has hit only two of 23 combined against SIU Edwardsville and Texas State.

First half

Willis produced nine points and four rebounds in the first half as the Bobcats pounded out a 38-26 halftime lead. Gumbs also had a big half with eight points and five assists.

Texas State led by as many as 17 points in the half, when the Bobcats shot 45.2 percent from the field and scored seven points off eight Roadrunners turnovers. UTSA was held to 38.5 percent shooting.

The Bobcats scored the game’s first nine points and kept on rolling. When Gumbs drove baseline and was fouled, he hit two free throws for a 9-0 lead with 16:49 remaining. They went on another run, going off 11-0, to make it 25-8.

UTSA men set to take on Texas State in San Marcos

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The I-35 rivalry in men’s basketball between the UTSA Roadrunners and the Texas State Bobcats will resume Wednesday night in San Marcos.

Austin Claunch. Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIUE) beat UTSA 77-60 in men's basketball on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Austin Claunch said he believes his team has the capability to ‘get hot,’ hopefully by Wednesday night in San Marcos against Texas State. – File photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA holds a 37-26 lead in the series that dates back to 1985. The Bobcats won the last meeting in 2023, but the Roadrunners have won six of the last nine.

This year will mark a new era in the rivalry, of sorts, with second-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch at the helm, going into his first meeting against Texas State in the series.

Texas State is under the direction of Coach Terrence Johnson, in his sixth season with the Bobcats.

In the early days of the new year, both teams have shown flashes of promising play but neither has won a game against NCAA Division I competition.

The Bobcats (1-2) are coming off a 79-71 loss on Saturday against the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans, while the Roadrunners (1-1) dropped a 77-60 decision at home on Friday to the SIU Edwardsville Cougars.

Coming up

UTSA at Texas State, tonight at 7
UTSA at Denver, Saturday at 1 p.m.

Records

Texas State 1-2
UTSA 1-1

Notable

Claunch said during his Monday news conference that guard Vasean Allette, a transfer from TCU who is considered UTSA’s top offseason pickup out of the transfer portal, is “day to day.”

“He’ll be in a ‘Runners uniform soon enough,” Claunch said.

Allette last played before UTSA fans on Oct. 25 when he passed for six assists in an exhibition game against Incarnate Word.

“He’ll be back with us,” Claunch said last Friday, following a 77-60 loss at home to SIU Edwardsville. “Just finishing up some things with him personally, sickness and health and some other things. Yeah, you’ll see him back in the fold.”

Coming off last year’s 12-19 season, UTSA fans are in sort of a wait-and-see mode on how much they believe in this year’s team.

Edwardsville coach Brian Barone said after Friday’s game that he feels like the Roadrunners will have a good team. Claunch told reporters Monday that he also has high hopes.

At the moment, though, the guard rotation seems to be in flux.

“You know, with the guards, often times it’s … who can make their first couple,” the coach said. “That’s just, sort of, the reality. I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys in rhythm, especially early on in the year.”

Despite the inconsistencies, Claunch said he thinks the team will come around because the players are working hard and are adaptable to whatever they’re asked to do.

“We’ve said it earlier,” he said, “we’ve got three freshman who are starting. We’re playing a lot of guys with multiple years (of experience). This team is going to get hot, hopefully starting Wednesday.

“I’m really excited about this group as a whole, and I’m excited for UTSA to see it. I know we’re still at the very beginning of the basketball season … The guys love UTSA. They’re unselfish.

“And now it’s time for us and them to turn it up a little bit. Now we got to produce some wins.”

Hot-hitting UTSA rallies past Texas State, 18-13, to sweep the season series

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

James Taussig and Ty Hodge crushed solo homers to spark a 10-run third inning Tuesday night as the UTSA Roadrunners rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Texas State Bobcats, 18-13, in a 4-hour, 35-minute marathon.

In the latest installment of the Interstate 35 rivalry, held on a windy night at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, the Roadrunners (34-10) pounded out 19 hits and three homers to sweep two games from Texas State in out-of-conference play this season.

It was UTSA’s first season sweep of the Bobcats (21-24) since 1995 in a regional series that dates back to 1992.

Texas State leads 63-42 all time, but UTSA has won five of the last seven. The game was played two days after the Bobcats beat the 20th-ranked Troy Trojans on Sunday afternoon in Alabama. The Roadrunners also played Sunday, downing the Memphis Tigers to sweep three games from the Tigers in San Antonio.

Adding to the intrigue, both of the squads were looking ahead to three-game series in conference play starting Friday, with first-place UTSA scheduled to open a three-game set in the American at second-place South Florida, while Texas State is slated to host Louisiana-Monroe in Sun Belt competition.

Regardless, both teams elected to dip into their weekend pitching rotations in a high-scoring game.

Connor Kelley, one of UTSA’s bullpen aces who pitched three innings on Sunday, worked one and two thirds innings into the eighth. Braylon Owens, UTSA’s Saturday night starter, got the last four outs by finishing the eighth and closing out in the ninth.

Home runs for UTSA came off the bats of Drew Detlefsen, Taussig and Hodge.

Taussig, a 6-foot-6 senior senior from New York, has hit home runs in each of his last four games. Other standouts included freshman Jordan Ballin, who had four hits and reached base five times. Also, freshman Caden Miller joined Detlefsen and Mason Lytle with three hits apiece. Miller and Lytle led the team with three RBI.

The Bobcats came out swinging the bats aggressively. They scored one run in the first inning and seven in the second for an 8-3 lead. After the Roadrunners scored 10 in the top of the third, the Bobcats answered with four more in the bottom half, leaving UTSA with a 13-12 advantage after three innings.

Texas State’s second inning was an eye opener. The Bobcats led off with consecutive solo home runs by Ian Collier, Samson Pugh and Zachary Gingrich, a freshman from Smithson Valley High School. Later, after Austin Munguia drilled an RBI single, Dawson Park launched the Bobcats’ fourth home run of the inning.

Park’s blast was a three-run shot that boosted Texas State into a five-run lead. But the lead didn’t last long. UTSA answered with 10 runs in the top of the third on nine hits. Taussig and Ballin had two hits each in the inning. Taussig blasted a solo homer and a run-scoring single for two RBI.

Records

UTSA 34-10
Texas State 21-24

Coming up

UTSA at South Florida, in the American Athletic Conference, Friday through Sunday
Louisiana-Monroe at Texas State, Sun Belt Conference, Friday through Sunday

Notable

The Roadrunners, sitting at No. 28 in the national RPI going into Tuesday night, have won five in a row. They have 10 games remaining before the conference tournament, and they need only five more victories to tie the program single-season record of 39. If they win six more, they will reach 40 for the first time in school history. After UTSA plays three this weekend at South Florida, the team returns to San Antonio for a mid-week Tuesday matchup at Incarnate Word. The Roadrunners then are set to play three at East Carolina, before they finish with three at home against Rice.

The conference tournament is May 20-25 at Clearwater, Fla. UTSA, with a three-game lead in the AAC on South Florida, is in the hunt for its first regular-season title since 2008. UTSA is also looking for its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013, which came in its one and only season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners will need to win the AAC tournament to clinch the conference’s automatic bid. If they fall short of the tournament championship, their NCAA hopes are not necessarily dashed, but they would need help from the selection committee to get at at-large bid.

As UTSA’s RPI climbs into the 20s, Hallmark calls for a focus on what his team can control

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Certainly, it’s safe to say that the UTSA Roadrunners take a measure of pride in being 27th in NCAA baseball’s latest ratings percentage index.

Pat Hallmark. UTSA rallied from an early 5-1 deficit to beat Florida Atlantic 10-7 in American Athletic Conference baseball at Roadrunner Field on Friday, March 28, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Pat Hallmark’s UTSA Roadrunners climbed three spots to No. 27 in the NCAA’s ratings percentage index. – File photo by Joe Alexander

In data published Monday, the Roadrunners moved up three spots in the RPI after sweeping three home games from the Memphis Tigers last weekend. And while it could be argued that the only time that the RPI really matters is in late May — during the NCAA committee meetings to decide the 64-team national tournament — it is significant for a team that prides itself on playing well.

For instance, only four programs in the nation outside of the Power 4 conferences have RPIs higher than UTSA. Oregon State is 11th, UC-Irvine 12th, Coastal Carolina 13th and Dallas Baptist 24th. Since Oregon State had been in the Pac-12 for decades before the latest realignment designated them as an independent in baseball, the Roadrunners really rank among only a handful of so-called mid majors in the top 30.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said on his Monday zoom conference with the media that he looks at the RPI because it does matter.

“We feel good about it,” he said. “I think we’d be silly not to feel good about it. But at the same time, we realize that can change. You got to play good ball. So, ultimately we try to lean back to, ‘Hey, what do we control?’ Right? In some ways, we don’t control that RPI. We control the next pitch we throw. We’re going to be the visiting team on Tuesday (at Texas State), so we control the next swing decision we make. That’s truly the only thing we control, is that next swing decision.”

Earlier this month, the Roadrunners climbed to No. 23 in the RPI, which is likely as high as they’ve ever been.

In 2022, they finished 37th after a spirited run in the Conference USA tournament. That year, they beat nationally-ranked tournament host Southern Miss twice before losing to Louisiana Tech in the C-USA title game. As a result, the Roadrunners returned home to San Antonio thinking that would be enough to earn them an at-large bid. It wasn’t enough, as they learned on selection day that they had been left out of the NCAA field.

Hallmark didn’t mention any of that in his visit with the media on Monday morning. But it’s something that likely is on his mind as the Roadrunners take a 33-10 record into San Marcos tomorrow to meet the 21-23 Bobcats, who, for the record, are 73rd in the RPI themselves despite having a mediocre season by their own standards.

As mentioned, the coach of the Roadrunners wants his players to focus mainly on what they can control.

“If we’re good at the things we control, then the RPI and things like that can get to where they are now, and where you want them to be,” Hallmark said. “But if you get too absorbed in that stuff, you lose sight of what really matters, and that’s the things you control — throwing a strike, swinging at a strike, taking a ball, and when we do swing, making them dangerous, violent swings. (Playing) good defense.”

Records

Texas State 21-23
UTSA 33-10

Coming up

UTSA at Texas State (non conference), Tuesday, 6 p.m.
UTSA at South Florida, Friday, 5:30 p.m.
UTSA at South Florida, Saturday, 1 p.m.
UTSA at South Florida, Sunday, noon

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UTSA wins another wild one in the I-35 rivalry, downing Texas State, 12-9

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Ty Hodge scored on a double by Drew Detlefsen in the second inning. UTSA beat Texas State 12-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Ty Hodge scores on a double by Drew Detlefsen in the second inning. Detlefsen had a monster game with four hits and seven RBIs to lead the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After UTSA gave up most of a 10-run lead and then hung on for a 12-9 victory over the rival Texas State Bobcats Tuesday night, Roadrunners coach Pat Hallmark issued a piece of advice to his players.

He gathered them on the infield and told them to make sure they enjoyed themselves after their 20th victory of the season.

“I told the guys in the little postgame meeting to celebrate,” Hallmark said. “A win’s a win, and they’re not easy to get, especially against this team, a good team right down the road. We recruit against each other. It’s a friendly rivalry, at least on the field. You know, our fans don’t like each other. But we respect those guys … So we should be really enjoying the win. You know, they scored too many (runs on us) at the end.

“But, yeah, I told ’em to get in the locker room, turn the music up and dance.”

Starting pitcher Gunnar Brown threw five scoreless innings to earn the win. UTSA beat Texas State 12-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA starting pitcher Gunnar Brown threw five scoreless innings to earn the win. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Drew Detlefsen doubled three times, stroked four hits and drove in seven runs to back the pitching of UTSA teammate Gunnar Brown, who started and worked five scoreless innings.

A crowd of 1,457 packed Roadrunner Field to watch as UTSA and Texas State played for the first time this season in the Interstate 35 rivalry. In the beginning, UTSA dominated, ringing up a couple of four-run innings within the first five.

Detlefsen’s two-run double highlighted a four-run UTSA fifth that lifted the Roadrunners into a 10-0 lead.

But in keeping with what usually happens in this series involving non-conference foes separated by about 50 miles of highway in Central Texas, big leads rarely last, and Texas State rallied furiously.

The Bobcats scored three runs in the seventh inning, two in the eighth and four more in the ninth to make it a game again. Texas State’s Theo Kummer capped the ninth-inning rally with a towering three-run homer to left to make it 12-9.

After Kummer’s blast sailed high and far down the line, UTSA reliever James Hubbard stepped up to stop the rally. He closed out the game, getting Travis Bragg on a ground ball and then fanning Justin Vossos to end it.

With the victory, the Roadrunners can now claim a two-game winning streak and a 4-2 record in the last six meetings against the Bobcats. Texas State leads the more than three-decades long series 63-41, with a second matchup this season scheduled for April 29 in San Marcos.

UTSA fans can thank Detlefsen and Brown, in particular, for their overall record on the season improving to a robust 20-7.

Detlefsen, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound slugger, doubled in three straight plate appearances — in the second inning, in the fourth and again in the fifth. He also added a single in the eighth in a stunning four-for-five performance.

His first two bagger sailed to the fence in right-center, clearing the bases and bringing in three runs in a four-run rally that boosted the Roadrunners into a 5-0 lead.

Texas State starting pitcher Jackson Mayo. UTSA beat Texas State 12-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State starting pitcher Jackson Mayo yielded three runs, two of them earned, in one inning to take the loss. — Photo by Joe Alexander

In the fourth, he ignited a rally with another opposite-field blast and later scored on a double by James Stucky.

In the fifth, Detlefsen struck again, jerking a ball into the left field corner and driving in two more to spark another four-run inning.

Not to be outdone, his two-run single in the eighth gave him seven RBI for the night and a team-leading 44 in 27 games this season.

When Hallmark recruited the native Texan out of Dodge City (Kan.) junior college last year, he knew he had a player that would produce runs.

But even the UTSA coach is surprised at how he has excelled in his first season as an NCAA Division I player.

“It’s turning out to be a huge get (for us),” Hallmark said. “Drew can hit. We recruited him because he can hit. He has a history of hitting. He’s hitting a little better than we anticipated. Again, I know it’s not as sexy, but I’m very proud of Drew’s defense.

“He made a play Sunday (in Charlotte, N.C.) against the wall that should have been a double. And tonight, obviously, he had seven RBI. But, I’m just proud of Drew’s work ethic, things that don’t get noticed.”

Brown, a transfer from Sam Houston State, emerged as something of a revelation in the sense that he hadn’t pitched in nine days.

In making only his fifth appearance of the season and his second start, the 6-foot-4 righthander artfully mixed four pitches to shut down the Bobcats. He gave up only two hits, walked one and struck out seven in five innings.

Hallmark said he started Brown because Texas State is adept at hitting fastballs, and Brown has a variety of pitches he can throw to keep a team off balance.

The challenge was to have him ready to meet the moment as he competed against a rival and in front of a big home crowd. Hallmark liked what he saw.

“In this day and age, you see it in the big leagues, these guys just rare back and throw a pitch — cutter or fastball, or whatever,” Hallmark said. “Gunnar threw four pitches, all for strikes, based on who the hitter was and how that hitter needed to be attacked.

“He was a little bit old school, fun to watch. He used the fastball here and there. He used the changeup to the lefties, and he used the curveball and the slider to the righties. So, I enjoyed watching him. And he threw every pitch for strikes.

“It was wonderful.”

Records

Texas State 11-13
UTSA 20-7

Coming up

Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Sunday, noon

Umpire shaken up

Home plate umpire Matthew Martinez had to leave the game after getting hit in the face mask three times in a little more than an inning, Hallmark said.

Martinez talked to both Hallmark and Texas State coach Steve Trout about his situation during a break in the action for a pitching change in the bottom of the second inning.

Texas State coach Steven Trout meets with the umpires and UTSA coach Pat Hallmark before the game. UTSA beat Texas State 12-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State coach Steven Trout meets with home-plate umpire Matthew Martinez before the game. In the second inning, Martinez exited the game after getting hit in the face mask three times. — Photo by Joe Alexander

“He just came to me and Coach Trout and said, ‘Hey guys, that last one that got me was the third one. He said ‘I just don’t feel like myself. If I try to go, I’m not going to give you the greatest game back here,’ and I respect that,” Hallmark said.

“You know,” the coach said, “anytime your head doesn’t feel right, you’re probably not going to be able to call 90 mph pitches ticking edges of plates. So, I hope he’s OK. But I appreciate him thinking about the quality of the game.”

After Martinez’s exit, a three-man umpiring crew became a two-man crew.

Clayton Hamm, one of the umpires in the field, took over home-plate duties for Martinez, and Matthew Hanson covered all the calls on the bases.

Hitters on a tear

UTSA entered the game with 281 hits, the most in the nation. The Roadrunners also had a .324 average, which ranked 12th in the nation and first in the American Athletic Conference.

Against the Bobcats, they went nine for 33 at the plate. Four of the hits went for doubles, including three by Detlefsen and one by Andrew Stucky, who was three for three.

The Bobcats, by contrast, have struggled at the plate. They were batting .255 coming in to Roadrunner Field. But they showed their potential with home runs by Justin Vossos, Chase Mora and Theo Kummer and two doubles by Dawson Park. For Mora, it was his 26th career home run.

Drew Detlefsen hit a three-run double in the second inning. UTSA beat Texas State 12-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Drew Detlefsen had four hits and seven RBI Tuesday night, powering the UTSA Roadrunners past the Texas State Bobcats. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Competitive juices will flow as UTSA hosts Texas State in baseball on Tuesday night

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With the Texas State Bobcats set to travel to San Antonio for a meeting with the UTSA Roadrunners in baseball on Tuesday night, I knew I needed to conduct an archive search of news coverage from the last time the two old rivals played.

In the archives of The JB Replay, I found a video image that pretty much tells the story of how passionate this series has become.

It was a video (see the image above) that I shot at the end of UTSA’s 11-9 victory over Texas State at Roadrunner Field last April.

The clip shows UTSA pitcher Fischer Kingsbery, firing what appears to be a high fastball and fanning Texas State slugger August Ramirez for the last out.

As Ramirez swings and misses, the UTSA fans erupt in cheers. Kingsbery then does a spin move on the mound and pumps his fist. Suddenly, he rips the glove off his left hand and fires it at the feet of Roadrunners players streaming out of the dugout to congratulate him.

Asked immediately after the game about the show of emotion, UTSA pitcher Braylon Owens was quoted as saying, “Battle of I-35. I mean, they were chirping us. Like, their fans, they chirped us pretty good when we played at their place. We were just excited to beat ’em here.”

Almost a year has passed since that moment unfolded.

Kingsbery and Ramirez have since moved on in their baseball careers, so they won’t be on the field Tuesday night. Owens is still pitching for the Roadrunners and is pitching extremely well, but since he worked 10 innings last week, he probably won’t get into the game this time.

All that aside, it’s almost certain that fans from both schools will fill the grandstands and a highly-competitive game will break out in the 104th incarnation of the series. Texas State leads it 63-40, but the teams have split the last six meetings.

Some of those games, as the record shows, have been crazy. In 2022, for instance, the Bobcats won 14-12 in San Marcos. Seven days later, the Roadrunners flipped the script and rolled, 14-8, in San Antonio.

Last season, home runs were flying out of the park in all directions, and the Bobcats held on to win 14-13 in San Marcos, which likely explains all the emotion of the Roadrunners’ 11-9 win in the rematch.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark suggested on his Monday morning zoom conference that the high scores and wild swings in momentum in recent games can be attributed to the timing of the games between programs that play in different conferences.

With Texas State in the Sun Belt and UTSA having recently moved from Conference USA to the American, the games between the two programs separated by about 50 miles of I-35 freeway have fallen during the middle of the week.

“You’re playing a Tuesday mid-week game (and) both of us are coming off of conference weekends,” Hallmark said. “(With) three games on the weekend, you’re using a lot of front-line pitching … In other words, you’re not going to save anybody for a Tuesday game when you’re in conference.”

Consequently, Texas State and UTSA hitters in recent times might have been a little more productive in the non-conference rivalry game after seeing higher quality stuff on the weekends.

“That might be what it is,” Hallmark said. “Whether you hit a little more, or you see some more base on balls … the free pass sometimes equates into runs. Hopefully, tomorrow, we can counter some of that and at least on our end, put up some zeroes.”

Recent games at Bobcat Ballpark or at Roadrunner Field have been emotional.

It’s only natural as players often times know each other from high school competition. They know each other from summer ball. The fans from both schools show up to sit in the grandstands where school pride and good-natured smack talk, as Owens suggested last April, tends to spice the atmosphere.

Such was the case last April when Texas State fans appeared to make up at least a quarter of the more than 1,000 in attendance jammed the modest Roadrunner Field. Hallmark, from his perspective, said he tries not to let it affect him as he manages the game.

“I don’t pay too much attention to it,” he said. “I got other stuff that I need to focus on. So, whether we’re at Disch-Falk Field (in Austin) or at our own ball park, I’m pretty absorbed and try to stay absorbed in the moment, and what I need to do to help us win.”

Even if coaches in both dugouts can block out all the noise, though, they likely can’t help get a little worked up when a four- or five-run lead dissolves in a matter of minutes and the crowd noise spikes.

This morning, I suggested on the zoom conference with coach Hallmark that these games with the Bobcats are a thrill for the fans. But for the coaches, they must get a little hairy as they attempt to make decisions during big rallies one way or the other.

“You sound like my dad,” Hallmark said, agreeing with the premise. “At the end of a game, it’s 14-12. He’s all jazzed up, and I’m tired. But, yeah, I think the fans like the run production.”

Records

Texas State 11-12
UTSA 19-7

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

After a phoned-in pep talk from Jeff Traylor, the UTSA women rout Texas State

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

SAN MARCOS – As the UTSA women’s basketball team bus rolled north-bound on Interstate 35 Saturday morning, Coach Karen Aston’s phone rang. It was Roadrunners football coach Jeff Traylor, who had something to say.

On speaker phone, the message came through loud and clear. “He said we have to beat Texas State by 39 because that’s how much they lost by,” UTSA guard Sidney Love recalled.

The Roadrunners’ women couldn’t quite erase the sting of the football team’s 49-10 loss to the Bobcats in September, nor could they quite win by 39, but they made an emphatic statement nevertheless that they’re ready for all comers in the American Athletic Conference.

Closing out their non-conference schedule, the defense-minded Roadrunners blew the game open in the second quarter and built leads as large as 23 points in the second half, before they ran off the floor at Strahan Arena with a 70-54 victory.

With their first win over the Bobcats since 2016, the Roadrunners improved to 9-2 going into next week’s AAC opener at Charlotte. The win-loss record is the best in school history going into conference play. Moreover, six of their victories have come by double digits.

“We’ve got our foot on the gas and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon,” Love said. “We just have our eye on the prize. We have our eye on the main goal, which is to become a championship team.”

Jordyn Jenkins led a balanced attack by producing 17 points to lead the Roadrunners, who shot 49.1 percent from the floor and had 11 players hit the scoring column. Love added 15 points and Cheyenne Rowe had 10 off the bench as UTSA improved to 5-2 away from home and 3-2 on the road.

Point guard Nina De Leon Negron contributed nine points, eight assists and six rebounds. A graduate transfer from Incarnate, she also had five steals.

The Bobcats entered the game on a four-game winning streak, but they couldn’t get much going offensively, shooting 34.6 percent. The Bobcats committed 21 turnovers in the face of a pressing and trapping defense by the Roadrunners.

For most of the game, UTSA players just looked more alive, more energized. It was particularly evident in the second quarter, when they outscored the Bobcats 27-12 en route to a 39-20 lead. Jenkins said the motivation stemmed partly from recent history in the I-35 rivalry.

“We haven’t beat Texas State in the last two years that we’ve been here, and I think it’s been even longer,” she said. “So, we knew that we had to come out here and punch ’em in the face. So, it worked out.”

Texas State, in fact, had won the last six meetings and eight of the last nine. UTSA hadn’t won in the series since a 2016 game in San Antonio. UTSA hadn’t won a game in San Marcos since 2013. For most of the afternoon, the Roadrunners played with pace that the Bobcats’ couldn’t match.

“I just think our kids like to play up-tempo,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “I think this game, particularly, we had a lot of good energy off the bench. I thought people came off the bench and added energy, enthusiasm … It wasn’t always pretty, but I thought the kids played with a lot of juice today.”

First half

The Roadrunners employed defensive pressure to create several easy baskets en route to a dominant second quarter and a 39-20 lead on the Bobcats.

Playing on the Bobcats’ home court, the Roadrunners led by four points after one low-scoring quarter, and then exploded out of the gates with 13 unanswered points to start the second.

Jenkins started it off by hitting a three-pointer, then made a steal guarding an inbounds pass and scored five points overall in the run, which lifted the Roadrunners into a 25-8 lead.

Freshman guard Damara Allen also made her mark, scoring four points in the streak, one on a fast-break layup and another on a jumper, also at the end of a breakout.

After Jaylin Foster scored inside for the Bobcats, the Roadrunners scored eight more unanswered, including four by Sidney Love and four more by Cheyenne Rowe.

As Rowe deftly sank a left-hander on a post move, UTSA had its largest lead of the half at 33-12.

In all, UTSA’s defense made four steals and created six Texas State turnovers in the period. On the other end, the Roadrunners hit 11 of 19 shots from the field for 57.9 percent.

It was easily one of the better quarters of the season for the Roadrunners, who open AAC play at Charlotte on Dec. 29. The team’s AAC home opener is on Jan. 1 against the UAB Blazers.

Records

UTSA 9-2
Texas State 6-4

Coming up

UTSA at Charlotte, Dec. 29, 1 p.m.
UAB at UTSA, Jan. 1, 6:30 p.m.

Notable

Kansas State transfer Ja’Mia Harris led the Bobcats in scoring with 10 points on four of seven shooting from the field. Takeira Ramey contributed nine points and four assists. Western Kentucky transfer Jaylin Foster, Texas State’s leading scorer, had a tough day by hitting only one of nine from the floor. The former standout from San Antonio-area Steele High School finished with six points. Incarnate Word transfer Destiny Terrell, another weapon for the Bobcats, finished with two points and eight rebounds.

Women’s basketball: UTSA faces a road test at I-35 rival Texas State

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UTSA players warm up in Strahan Arena in preparation for a noon tipoff against the Texas State Bobcats. – Photo by Jerry Briggs

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

SAN MARCOS — The UTSA women’s basketball team is 8-2 this season leading into Saturday’s date with the Texas State Bobcats. If the Roadrunners can win in Strahan Arena, the Roadrunners would take the best record in school history into conference play when they open on the road in The American next week at Charlotte.

Even though UTSA might have its best team in years, with premium guard play, quality depth and a prominent inside scoring threat in Jordyn Jenkins, the task might not be an easy one.

Texas State has won six straight in the series against UTSA, including a 3-0 record against Roadrunners coach Karen Aston. UTSA hasn’t won a game in the Interstate 35 rivalry series since 2016 and hasn’t won in San Marcos since 2013.

Additionally, the Bobcats are 6-3 and playing well, having won four in a row. In their last outing, they traveled to meet the the University of Denver last Sunday, downing the Pioneers 63-60. Kansas State transfer Ja’Mia Harris, a 5-11 sophomore, led the way with 16 points.

During the winning streak, the Bobcats have won at UT-Rio Grande Valley and Tarleton State, at home against the University of Texas at Dallas and then on the road again at Denver.

Forward Jaylin Foster, who played in high school at Cibolo Steele in the San Antonio area, leads the Bobcats, averaging 10.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals. Guard Destiny Terrell, a transfer from Incarnate Word, averages 8.8 and 5.9 rebounds. Harris is averaging 8.6 points and Morgan Hill 8.2

UTSA is coming to the end of a busy week. Traveling to the West Coast last weekend, the Roadrunners played well against an NCAA-caliber team in Stanford and lost, 62-57. UTSA returned home for a few days of practice and then downed UT Arlington, 76-61, on Thursday afternoon.

Coming up

UTSA at Texas State, Saturday, noon

Records

UTSA 8-2
Texas State 6-3

Notable

Texas State coach Zenarae Antoine, in her 14th year at Texas State, is 9-5 against UTSA. Last year, the Bobcats came into San Antonio and rallied late to tie the score in regulation, before knocking off the Roadrunners, 65-57, in overtime. Jenkins, UTSA’s best player, wasn’t available to play as she was in the midst of rehabilitation from knee surgery. Two years ago in San Marcos, Jenkins had a big game, producing 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. But a second-half rally propelled Texas State to a 60-55 victory.

Aston’s Roadrunners have soared into the top 60 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. They’re No. 55 as of Saturday morning. The Roadrunners have scored five double-digit victories, with their only losses in single digits on the road in power-conference settings, at Texas A&M and Stanford. Defense is UTSA’s calling card, as the Roadrunners are holding teams to 36.8 percent shooting. They’re also outscoring opponents by 13.8 points and outrebounding them by 11.6.

Jenkins is averaging 19.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 steal. She’s also averaging 1.3 blocks. The guard tandem of Sidney Love and Nina De Leon Negron is clicking. Coming off a 21-point game, Love is averaging 10.7 points, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals. De Leon Negron, in her first year with the team, is humming with 9.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists.