Tag Archives: Texas State Bobcats

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

.

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

Posted on by
Reply
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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Matt King, Mason Lytle and Co. lead UTSA past Texas State, 11-9

Posted on by

Mason Lytle (No. 3) celebrates with teammates after his fourth-inning grand slam boosted UTSA into an 8-5 lead against Texas State. The Roadrunners went on to claim victory over their Interstate 35 rivals from San Marcos and a split of their two games this season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Matt King ignited the offense early with a solo home run and an RBI double, and then Mason Lytle hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning, helping the UTSA Roadrunners rally past the Texas State Bobcats, 11-9, in an Interstate 35 rivalry game Tuesday night at Roadrunner Field.

The win, coming on a warm and breezy evening in front of an announced 1,070 fans, was significant on a number of fronts for the Roadrunners.

It gave them renewed momentum leading into a weekend home series in the American Athletic Conference against Wichita State. It boosted UTSA coach Pat Hallmark to his 200th career victory, and it also allowed allowed the team to gain a split of two games against Texas State this season.

Braylon Owens pitched 2 2/3 innings and earned the win in relief. UTSA beat Texas State 11-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Braylon Owens pitched 2 2/3 innings and earned the win in relief. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

Texas State 22-24
UTSA 26-18

Coming up

AAC series: Wichita State at UTSA
Friday – 6 p.m.
Saturday — 2 p.m.
Sunday — 1 p.m.

Notable

A dime novelist probably couldn’t have scripted a more harrowing start for a Roadrunners team that came out flat, steadied itself in the middle innings and finally hung on to win behind the pitching of Braylon Owens, Ruger Riojas and Fischer Kingsbery.

In the beginning, a couple of UTSA pitchers didn’t have great control of their stuff. One walked three batters and threw three wild pitches. On top of that, the infield botched a couple of plays and contributed to the Bobcats scoring four runs in the first inning and one more in the second for a 5-0 lead.

Matt King had three hits including a home run. UTSA beat Texas State 11-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Matt King had three hits including a home run as UTSA beat Texas State 11-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Fortunately for the Roadrunners, they have a prideful roster of players who compete hard even when they’re not performing at their best, and that’s exactly what happened. Even then, the poor start to the game left Hallmark shaking his head afterward. Asked how he liked his team’s performance, the coach said, “I didn’t love it.”

“I like winning,” Hallmark said. “I mean, winning is nice. But we didn’t play a terrific game. We were fortunate to win.”

Owens came to the rescue for the Roadrunners in the second inning. The Bobcats had a couple of runners on base and were threatening to blow the game open when Aaron Lugo produced an RBI single to right field to make it 5-0.

That’s when Owens started to get tough.

With two runners aboard, he got Texas State RBI machine Daylan Pena on a ground ball to end the inning. Owens (4-1) went on to complete 2 and 2/3 innings to earn the victory. Though he yielded four hits, he steadied his team by throwing strikes and blanking the Bobcats in the third and fourth innings.

By then, the bats had come alive. King highlighted a three-run second inning with a leadoff homer. In the third, he drove in another run with a double into the gap in left field. By the fourth, the Bobcats were reeling. A couple of batters hit by pitch loaded the bases for Lytle, who hit a ball over the left field wall for a grand slam and an 8-5 lead.

A few innings later, Isaiah Walker stoked the excitement in the home crowd when he laced a drive down the right field line that went for a three-run double. UTSA, at that point, was rolling. The Roadrunners were up 11-6.

Isaiah Walker hit a three-run double in the sixth inning. UTSA beat Texas State 11-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Isaiah Walker connects on a three-run double in the sixth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Bobcats made it interesting late when Chase Mora drove in a run in the seventh, and then August Ramirez sparkled in the eighth with a a 2-run homer to center field. Ramirez, a fifth-year senior from nearby O’Connor High School, made it 11-9 with his eye-opening, line-drive over the batters’ eye.

But just as things started to get a little hairy for the Roadrunners, Kingsbery entered the game and retired the one batter he faced in the eighth and all three in the ninth for the save. Kingsbery showed raw emotion after getting Ramirez on a swinging third strike, tossing his glove to the ground and screaming with delight.

“Battle of I-35,” Owens said, when asked about the fire among UTSA players immediately after the game. “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.”

For UTSA, the victory was cleansing, in a way. It rinsed off some of the disappointment from losing two of three last weekend in an AAC road series at Rice. Entering the series, UTSA was tied for the lead in the conference and Rice was tied for eighth place. Owens suggested that maybe the Roadrunners took them too lightly.

Pat Hallmark. UTSA beat Texas State 11-9 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark reached a career milestone with his 200th victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“We just came out dead,” Owens said. “I think we thought we already had it in the bag before we even started playing. Didn’t keep the chip on our shoulder.”

If anything positive came from the trip to Houston, Owens said it may have been a learning experience, in that it just goes to show that “no team is an easy win.” Trailing East Carolina by two games in the AAC race with three weekends remaining, UTSA will play conference series against Wichita State and South Florida at home and then against Florida Atlantic on the road. The AAC tournament is scheduled for May 21-26 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.

“We know we we’ve got to fight against every team,” Owens said.

JB’s Video Replay

Matt King, a UTSA junior from Kingwood Park High School, barrels a ball over the wall in left field to ignite a three-run second inning for the Roadrunners.

UTSA freshman Whitt Joyce, who played at Medina Valley High School, rips a double to left in the second inning.

UTSA’s Mason Lytle, an Oregon transfer from Pearland High, belts a grand slam in the fourth inning for the Roadrunners. He has hit 10 homers this season.

Isaiah Walker, a junior from Manvel High School, laces a double down the right field line to score three runs for UTSA in the sixth.

Texas State graduate senior August Ramirez from O’Connor High School slammed a two-run blast over the center field wall in the seventh. – Video courtesy of Texas State athletics

UTSA righthander Fischer Kingsbery strikes out August Ramirez to end the game and then flings his glove to the ground as an exclamation mark an 11-9 victory over Texas State.

Baseball: Roadrunners to host the Bobcats tonight in I-35 rivalry

Posted on by

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The drama of the Interstate 35 baseball rivalry between the UTSA Roadrunners and the Texas State Bobcats will unfold once again tonight in San Antonio. First pitch in the 103rd meeting between the teams is at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.

Texas State leads 63-39 in the series, which started in 1992. Each year it showcases athletes who grew up in the area, who are now representing universities separated by about 50 miles of freeway through South Texas.

For years, the teams played against one another in the Southland Conference, and then they shared membership for one season in the Western Athletic Conference.

Since 2014, they’ve played in separate leagues, with Texas State operating in the Sun Belt and UTSA in Conference USA and now, starting with this season, in the American Athletic Conference.

UTSA and Texas State have battled the past five years under successful coaches, with Pat Hallmark leading the Roadrunners and Steven Trout guiding the Bobcats. Trout’s Texas State teams own a 4-2 edge against UTSA in that time.

Earlier this season, on March 19, pitching changes were plentiful and home-run balls were flying all over the place as the Bobcats claimed a 14-13 victory over the Roadrunners in San Marcos.

Seven homers were launched, including four by UTSA, on a night when Texas State used eight pitchers and UTSA seven.

The two teams opened the game by going back and forth on each other with scoring binges. UTSA plated four runs in the top of the first inning. Texas State retaliated with nine in the bottom half. By the end of the third inning, the Bobcats led, 14-8.

UTSA stayed in it, with a shot to win, until the very end. Trailing by three runs going into their last at bat, the Roadrunners received a lift when freshman Diego Diaz hit a two-run homer.

Still trailing by one, the Roadrunners had base runners at first and second when Texas State’s Aaron Lugo fielded a ground ball in the infield and stepped on third for a force play to end it.

Records

Texas State 22-23
UTSA 25-18

Coming up

Non-conference
Tonight: Texas State at UTSA, 6 p.m.

AAC series: Wichita State at UTSA
Friday – 6 p.m.
Saturday — 2 p.m.
Sunday — 1 p.m.

Notable

Roadrunners coach Pat Hallmark has a chance to reach a career milestone tonight. A victory would give him 200 in his career. Hallmark is 199-138 in seven seasons, which includes two at the University of the Incarnate Word and five at UTSA.

UTSA has played well overall since the March 19 loss to Texas State, posting a 15-7 record since then. The Roadrunners faltered a bit last weekend, losing two at Rice before claiming a 4-2 victory on Sunday behind the pitching of starter Ulises Quiroga. It was the first series loss for the Roadrunners in conference this season. UTSA is 12-6 in the AAC and sits in second place.

After beating UTSA, Texas State has struggled, going 10-14 in a 24-game stretch. Last weekend in Jonesboro, Ark., the Bobcats dropped back-to-back, one-run decisions to Arkansas State before rebounding to claim a 10-0, run-rule victory on Sunday. Drayton Brown pitched a complete game for the win, which could help tonight if the Bobcats need to go deep into their bullpen. Texas State is 8-13 in conference, 11th out of 14 teams.

Ryne Farber, a Texas State freshman from San Antonio’s Johnson High School, has hit safely in all seven games since returning from injury back on April 19. The San Antonio native is 13 for 25 at the plate for a .520 average during that stretch. Farber didn’t play in the first UTSA-Texas State game.

Offensive leaders

Texas State
Batting average: Farber .398, Kameron Weil .327, Aaron Lugo .298.
Home runs: Lugo 9, Daylan Pena 7, August Ramirez 7.
RBI: Pena 39, Chase Mora 38, Lugo 33.

UTSA
Batting average: Mason Lytle .385, Isaiah Walker .357, Caleb Hill .351.
Home runs: Lytle 9, Hill 9, James Taussig 6.
RBI: Lytle 37, Hill 35, Matt King 34.

Texas State women surge late to down UTSA, 65-57, in overtime

Posted on by
Tiffany Tullis. Texas State beat UTSA 65-57 in overtime in women's basketball on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State forward Tiffany Tullis, who played in high school at Cornerstone Christian in San Antonio, had 12 points and nine rebounds as the Bobcats won their sixth straight in the I-35 series against the UTSA Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners are most definitely on the upswing in women’s basketball, but the Texas State Bobcats remain firmly in control in the I-35 rivalry.

Paced by guard Timia Jefferson, Texas State pulled away in the last four minutes Thursday night to down error-prone UTSA, 65-57, in overtime.

The Bobcats broke from a tie and outscored the Roadrunners 11-3 down the stretch to secure the victory in front of an announced 500 fans at the Convocation Center.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Texas State coach Zenarae Antoine said outside the team bus. “This particular game’s special, for us, because we really needed to find our way through adversity in a close game. Our last two games were really close, right. Back and forth and then the opponent pulled away. That’s both at home against Sam Houston and on the road at (Texas A&M) Corpus (Christi).”

Texas State has won six straight against UTSA in the series. UTSA hasn’t prevailed in the game against its regional rival since 2016.

In the latest dust-up on hardwood between schools separated by about 50 miles, a crowd announced at 500 filled most of both lower-level grandstands.

“We were excited to be home,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “I’m just disappointed we didn’t perform at a more urgent level. Like, we looked like we were too cool for how competitive the game was. I was disappointed for that, because we’re home, and you want to show out for your home fans. But, sometimes you have to get slapped around a little bit to change some things you do.

Elyssa Coleman. Texas State beat UTSA 65-57 in overtime in women's basketball on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Center Elyssa Coleman led the Roadrunners with 11 points and nine rebounds against the Bobcats – Photo by Joe Alexander

“Some of it is, we’ve got some young players who haven’t been in this situation, and the only way for them to learn is to play.”

Jefferson paced Texas State with 15 points, including a team-high five in the OT. Two former San Antonio-area high school players also played key roles. Forwards Tiffany Tullis (from Cornerstone) had 12 points and nine rebounds and Jaylin Foster (from Steele) notched a double double, producing 10 points and 11 boards.

Asked about what stood out for her in the overtime, Tullis said it was “locking down on the defense” and rebounding. “Not letting them get second opportunities,” she said.

UTSA entered the Texas State game on the heels of a 3-1 road swing through Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington, Texas Tech and Sam Houston State, with the only loss a close one (by five points) in Lubbock at Tech.

To beat the Roadrunners, a good team and also a long-time foe of the Bobcats, was meaningful to Tullis.

“This is my first time hearing about the rivalry, so it’s pretty awesome to win against a team they had been going against for years,” Tullis said.

The Roadrunners came from 15 down to win in Corpus Christi and from 11 behind to beat Sam Houston. They fell behind by nine in the first half against the Bobcats but couldn’t produce their magic this time.

UTSA may have been its own worst enemy at the end, shooting two for eight from the field and committing three turnovers in the overtime.

After Foster scored on a driving layup for the Bobcats, Sidney Love answered with one of her own to bring the Roadrunners to within 61-57 with 51 seconds remaining.

At that point, the UTSA offense went cold and Texas State took advantage. Jefferson hit three of her team’s free throws at the end to help the visitors close the deal.

For the Roadrunners, center Elyssa Coleman had 11 points and nine rebounds. Love scored 11 and passed for three assists. Siena Guttadauro also scored 11 off the bench. Guttadauro knocked down three 3-point baskets for the Roadrunners.

Records

Texas State 4-2
UTSA 4-3

First half

Playing strong defense, the Texas State Bobcats forced six UTSA turnovers in the first quarter and raced to a seven-point advantage and then held on in the second period, to hold a 28-25 lead at the intermission.

Notable

At least six players from high schools in the San Antonio area — two from Texas State and four from UTSA — played in the game at the UTSA Convocation Center. Texas State started Tiffany Tullis from Cornerstone and Jaylin Foster from Steele on the front line. UTSA started Kyra White from Judson, Sidney Love from Steele and Aysia Proctor from Clemens in the backcourt. UTSA also came off the bench with guard Alexis Parker from Brandeis.

Sidney Love. Texas State beat UTSA 65-57 in overtime in women's basketball on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Guard Sidney Love hit five of 10 shots from the field and scored 11 points for the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State wins 72-62 in an I-35 rivalry game against UTSA

Posted on by

By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

The Texas State Bobcats rebounded from a blowout loss at Oklahoma earlier this week, pulled away from the rival UTSA Roadrunners late and emerged with a 72-62 victory Friday night in San Marcos.

Playing their home opener at Strahan Arena, the Bobcats put forth a strong effort in the paint to win their first game in the I-35 rivalry since 2018.

UTSA had won four out of its last five in the series but failed to get much going on the offensive end, shooting 31.7 percent from the field. The Roadrunners also turned it over 13 times en route to their fewest points this season and their third straight loss.

“They’re really good defensively,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told Jay Howard on the school’s radio broadcast. “They’ve been that way (for years). That’s the sixth time we’ve played against them since I’ve been here and we always know how tough they’re going to be.”

Texas State entered the game looking to make amends for a 93-54 loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday night. The game was played in Norman, Okla., at the home of the Sooners.

As the the Bobcats left Big 12 territory and returned home, their big men answered the challenge and played well against the Roadrunners, a team transitioning into the American Athletic Conference this season.

Six-foot-seven forward Christian Turner led the charge for the Bobcats of the Sun Belt, scoring 19 points. He kept taking it inside and getting fouled, leading to 10 of 12 shooting at the line. Six-foot-nine Brandon Love enjoyed a big night, as well, with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Six-foot-six guard Joshua O’Garro had 13 points, including 11 in the second half.

For the Roadrunners, 6-3 point guard Christian Tucker led with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists. Small forward Dre Fuller Jr. scored 13, including a three-for-six effort from the three-point line.

On the other hand, UTSA starting post players Carlton Linguard, Jr., and Trey Edmonds never found a rhythm, as both fouled out, scoreless, on zero-for-three shooting from the field.

UTSA led in the game only a few times but nevertheless stayed within two possessions for the most part. At the end, however, things came unraveled for the Roadrunners as the Bobcats kept attacking and pushed the lead to double figures for much of the final three minutes.

Records

UTSA 1-3
Texas State 2-2

Coming up

UTSA at Houston Christian, Monday, 7 p.m.

First half

Starting slowly, the Roadrunners misfired on six of their first seven shots from the field and allowed the Bobcats to take an early 8-2 lead on the scoreboard. The UTSA offense never quite find traction, but it did produce five 3-point baskets.

Meanwhile, Texas State did a good job of scoring in the paint and emerged with a 27-25 halftime lead. With Tyrel Morgan and a few other Texas State players injured and unavailable, Turner scored 10 points and Love had seven for the Bobcats.

For the Roadrunners, Tucker led the way with seven points. He was one of five UTSA players with a three-pointer in the half.

Notable

UTSA had won six of eight, four of five and the last two meetings in the I-35 rivalry. Texas State put a stop to the surge with a grind-it-out victory that wasn’t pretty except for the final verdict. In a series that started in 1985, played between schools only 50 miles apart, UTSA still leads, 37-26.

The Roadrunners stayed in the game early with three-point shooting, hitting five of 15 from beyond the stripe in the first half. In response, Texas State did a much better job guarding the perimeter late, as UTSA made only three of 12 from distance after intermission.

UTSA opened the season with a 10-point victory at home, in overtime, against Western Illinois. The team started a four-game road trip at Minnesota last Friday and lost 102-76. UTSA played next at Lamar on Tuesday and fell 90-82 in a high-scoring game that had pace. Texas State, in contrast, slowed the tempo and kept UTSA from scoring on many, if any, easy baskets.