Tag Archives: UTSA Roadrunners

Austin Regional is expected to be played as scheduled after storm damage at UFCU Disch-Falk Field

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

AUSTIN — The weather turned wild on Wednesday night at the University of Texas. A storm that packed wind estimated at 70 mph, according to a local media outlet, knocked down a portion of the centerfield fence at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

At first glance, it looked like a situation that could affect this weekend’s NCAA Austin Regional baseball tournament. Officials, however, cautioned fans not to worry.

“Still scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Friday,” a University of Texas school spokesman said, alluding to the time for the first pitch to be thrown in a game pitting the Texas Longhorns and the Houston Christian University Huskies.

A second game will follow at 6 p.m. between the Kansas State Wildcats and the UTSA Roadrunners.

NCAA Austin Regional: Second-seeded UTSA hopes to build on a dream season

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Here’s part three of our look at teams in the NCAA Austin Regional. The UTSA Roadrunners ran away with the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference and earned their first at-large bid to the tournament. They’ll be seeded second this weekend.

UTSA Roadrunners

Record: 44-13

Record in conference: 23-4, first in the American.

Seed in the Austin Regional: Second

Opener: The Roadrunners will play the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats Friday at 6 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

NCAA baseball history, highlights: UTSA has enjoyed only sporadic success in 34 seasons of Division I baseball, with three previous trips to NCAA tournaments — in 1994, 2005 and 2013. The first two NCAA sojourns came in the Southland Conference, followed by one in the Western Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners went 0-2 in each of the three tournaments.

Journey to the Austin Regional: It’s been long time coming for the Roadrunners. They have fielded solid teams in each of the past three seasons, only to come up short each time. They won 38, 38 and 32 games from 2022-24, respectively. In ‘22, it was particularly painful after they opened the Conference USA tournament with three wins in Hattiesburg, Miss., including back-to-back victories over nationally-ranked host Southern Mississippi. But after a one-run loss to Louisiana Tech in the finals, their name was not called on NCAA selection day. This season, the Roadrunners left no doubt, ripping off a school-record 44 wins, including non-conference victories over Texas and Texas A&M. Not to mention a 23-4 run to the AAC regular-season title. Even with a 2-2 trip to the conference tournament, it didn’t matter, as UTSA earned its first at-large bid and its highest regional seed ever.

The coach: Victories just keep piling up for Pat Hallmark. In eight seasons, including two at Incarnate Word and the past six at UTSA, he has amassed a 250-157 record. Take away the one year cut short by the pandemic (2020) and he’s averaging 35.7 wins a season.

Top players: UTSA centerfielder Mason Lytle entered the 2025 season under the microscope as the preseason player of the year in the AAC. Lytle more than lived up to billing as he was named following the regular season as both player of the year, defensive player of the year and first-team all conference. Other Roadrunners on the first team included pitcher Robert Orloski, catcher Andrew Stucky, shortstop Ty Hodge and outfielder James Taussig.

Quality depth: The Roadrunners’ quality did not stop there. Named to the AAC second team were leftfielder Drew Detlefsen and second baseman Jordan Ballin. Detlefsen also was named Co-Newcomer Position Player of the Year along with UAB’s Todd Clay.

Salty freshmen: Three first-year Roadrunners made the AAC all freshman team, including Ballin, first baseman Caden Miller and utility infielder Nathan Hodge, the younger brother of Ty Hodge.

Next up: The top-seeded Texas Longhorns.

Seeded second in the NCAA Austin Regional, UTSA didn’t need to worry about being left out

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Mason Lytle, UTSA, center field.

UTSA’s Mason Lytle, the American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year, will lead the UTSA Roadrunners into the NCAA Austin Regional on Friday in a matchup against the Big 12’s Kansas State Wildcats. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After reading through some information early Monday on how to deal with worst-case scenarios in life, UTSA’s Pat Hallmark reported to Roadrunner Field.

The coach of the American Athletic Conference’s 44-win, regular-season champions wanted to be prepared just in case something crazy happened and his team was left out of the 64-team NCAA tournament.

As it turned out, Hallmark could have skipped the philosophy lesson and maybe just kicked back and had another cup of coffee.

Pat Hallmark-title celebration

UTSA’s Pat Hallmark (at right) coached the Roadrunners to a 44-17 record, including 23-4 in the American Athletic Conference.. – File photo by Jerry Briggs

That’s because the NCAA announced that the Roadrunners will play in the national tournament this weekend at the Austin Regional.

Asked about the emotions in the locker room before the televised bracket reveal, Hallmark said there was mostly excitement.

“We thought we were in,” he said. “We put a good resume’ (out) there. The championship holds a lot of weight, from what I’m told, and the way we won (it) — four losses over a 27-game conference season, is pretty impressive.”

At that point, Hallmark started to tease assembled members of the media, testing their knowledge of Latin and ancient philosophy.

“We felt like we were in,” Hallmark said, continuing his story. “Of course, you never know. So there’s always a little bit of nagging thought. So I did a little reading this morning on Premeditatio Malorum.”

Say what?

Reporters didn’t say a word.

“You know what that means?” Hallmark asked a reporter. “(It’s) preparing for the worst. But I did think we were in.”

Armed with a 44-13 record, including 23-4 in conference, everyone associated with the program figured that they would have a place in the field.

But after a 2-2 run in the AAC tournament and an earlier than expected exit in the semifinals, a question loomed as to whether it might affect their seeding or where they would play.

That question, too, was dispelled.

UTSA, named to play in the tournament for the first time in their history with an at-large bid, drew a second seed in the region behind the host Texas Longhorns and ahead of the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats.

The Houston Christian University Huskies were named as the fourth seed. As a result, Texas will open the regional on Friday at 1 p.m. against Houston Christian. UTSA will play Kansas State in the second game at 6 p.m.

The regional is double elimination and will run through Sunday, or, if necessary, through Monday.

For weeks, UTSA had been projected by national media outlets as a No. 2 seed, and nothing that happened last weekend at the conference tournament in Clearwater, Fla., seemed to make any difference.

Relief pitcher Robert Orloski. UTSA beat Youngstown State 4-3 on James Taussig's walk-off hit on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Relief pitcher Robert Orloski went 8-0 with a 2.92 earned run average and eight saves during the regular season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Asked if he thinks this was a “reward bid” for the team’s body of work over the entire season, Hallmark said he doesn’t know.

“Quite frankly, I’m not sure and uh, I don’t care,” he said laughing. “We got a tough regional like they all are. So, again, we’re just eager and hungry to go to work and prepare so we give ourselves a best chance to win on Friday.”

UTSA centerfielder Mason Lytle said he likes the destination because it gives players’ families an opportunity to see the games live, without having to travel out of state.

“Wherever we were going to go, it was going to be exciting to play,” he said “(But) it’s nice playing an hour away, we’ll have fans that can travel. We have a lot of Texas people on the team, so we’ll get a lot of family. So that’ll be pretty nice.

“We’ve already played there once, so we’re pretty familiar and, uh, it’s our big brother school. So it’ll be a fun time.”

In their best win of the year, the Roadrunners defeated the “big brother” Longhorns 8-7 in 12 innings on March 18.

UTSA pitcher Robert Orloski said he started to think as early as last fall that his teammates had a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.

“We were all intense the whole time,” he said. “We never took a day off. Even when it was a lull, the team was still intense. I just think right when the fall started, we knew we had a chance, that we had a good team.”

UTSA baseball is headed to Austin for the NCAA tournament

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners will play in the Austin Regional in the NCAA baseball tournament and will face the Kansas State Wildcats on opening day Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, according to the bracket released Monday.

The Texas Longhorns are the hosts in the regional and the No. 2 overall seed in the 64-team tournament. As the regional No. 1, the Longhorns will open with the four-seed Houston Christian Huskies.

The Roadrunners are seeded second in the region, taking on the No. 3 Wildcats of the Big 12. On Friday, the Longhorns will play the Huskies at 1 p.m. The Roadrunners and the Wildcats will play at 6 p.m. Both games are on ESPN +.

For UTSA, it is the program’s first NCAA regional appearance in 12 years and fourth overall. Facing Kansas State, UTSA will be looking for its first victory in NCAA competition. The team bowed out with 0-2 records in its previous three trips.

Records

(Regional seed, school, records, conference finish)
1) Texas 42-12, 22-8, first in the Southeastern Conference
2) UTSA 44-13, 23-4, first in the American Athletic Conference
3) Kansas State 31-24, 17-13 sixth in the Big 12
4) Houston Christian 32-23, 17-13, sixth in the Southland Conference

Notable

The Roadrunners are playing in an NCAA regional for only the fourth time since the program’s inception in 1992, with the other three in 1994, 2005 and 2013.

This is UTSA’s first regional appearance after receiving an at-large bid, with the other three coming as a conference tournament winner with an automatic bid.

In the Roadrunners’ first regional, under Coach Jimmy Shankle, they played in Austin in the NCAA Central Region as the fifth seed, where they lost the first game to No. 19 Nevada 11-8 and fell to Arkansas State 10-5.

In 2005, with a team coached by Sherman Corbett, UTSA competed in the Waco Regional as the fourth seed, taking on No. 6 Baylor in the first game and losing 8-3. The Roadrunners were then eliminated in the second game against Stanford, falling 6-2.

In UTSA’s most recent regional appearance, the Roadrunners competed in the Corvallis Regional in 2013 under Jason Marshall as the fourth seed, where they fell 5-4 to No. 3 Oregon State and 6-1 to Texas A&M.

UTSA’s coach Pat Hallmark is the architect of this year’s team that set the school record for victories in a season. Hallmark, a Houston native, is in his sixth year as head coach of the Roadrunners.

Quotable

“We’re excited and ready to go to work,” Hallmark said. “That’s really the reaction. I’m antsy to get back (in the office) in RACE and pull up some video and start scouting.”

Asked if he thinks this was a “reward bid” for the team’s body of work with a two seed and a game close to home, Hallmark said he doesn’t know.

“Quite frankly, I’m not sure and uh, I don’t care,” he said laughing. “We got a tough regional like they all are. So, again, we’re just eager and hungry to go to work and prepare so we give ourselves a best chance to win on Friday.”

Coming out of the AAC tournament, Hallmark said he guessed that the NCAA committee would send UTSA to a regional in the state of Texas or in the western United States.

He said having his team prepare to play in Austin has some advantages, such as being able to stay one more night in San Antonio before traveling to Austin to practice on Thursday.

Traveling to the West Coast, he said, would have meant the team would need to leave Wednesday. Regardless, he said, the all three of his potential competitors are “really” good.

“I don’t know what regional I’d prefer,” he said. “I’ve been asked that a few times. But logistically, with travel, it’s nice. We can go up Thursday now. That’s what I’d like to do. You know, we practice Thursday at their field … So it’s another night the kids get to sleep in their own bed. We get a full practice here on Wednesday.

“Right now we need to make a few minor adjustments offensively. So there’s some things that will help, being this close to the ballpark.”

NCAA tournament looms after UTSA falls to Tulane in the AAC semifinals

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the 44-13 UTSA Roadrunners, it’s now a waiting game. Feeling good that they’ve secured a spot in the 64-team NCAA tournament, they’ll find out on Monday at 11 a.m. where they are going and who they’ll be playing.

“I don’t know,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “Historically they try to keep people regionally close. But again, sometimes you see people where we are head west. I think we’ll stay in Texas, or we’ll head west. But I’m totally guessing, right?”

Hallmark made his remarks Saturday on a zoom call with the media after his Roadrunners were ousted from the American Athletic Conference tournament, falling 6-3 to the Tulane Green Wave in the semifinals.

Regardless, hopes are high for taking the next step into national competition. UTSA hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 2013, when they reached a regional in Corvallis, Ore.

No matter their seeding, destination or opposition, they want to build on the team’s program record for victories and on the respect they earned in claiming their first regular-season championship in 17 years.

Their season win total coming out of the tournament ranked among the best in the AAC’s 12-year history. Only East Carolina in 2023 and Louisville in 2014 had more victories (45) than the Roadrunners and the 2014 Houston Cougars (both 44) entering the NCAA regional round.

Incidentally, the other three teams outside of UTSA in that group all played in the NCAA tournament, and Louisville made it through to the College World Series.

Records also indicate that, since the AAC’s first season in 2014, every team that has won a conference regular-season title or a title share has at least reached the NCAA regionals. Moreover, the Roadrunners’ had the best in-conference record of any AAC team in history at 23-4, five games ahead of their nearest pursuer.

During their 2-2 run in Clearwater, the Roadrunners eclipsed the conference record in runs scored in a season. With the three more scored on Saturday, their total is now 502 in 57 games and counting. Asked on his postgame zoom conference to address his team’s milestone achievements, Hallmark hesitated.

He expressed mixed emotions, considering UTSA fell short of the conference’s postseason title after coming in to Clearwater seeded No. 1.

“It’s probably a little too early to dwell on (the season milestones) or get the most out of it,” the coach said. “Obviously we just played and just lost, so my mind’s still on what I could have done better. What we could have done better. Where the preparation maybe could have been better.”

Trailing by one run, the Green Wave scored once in the fifth, twice in the sixth and once more in the seventh to take charge of the game.

Relievers Carter Benbrook and Taylor Montiel closed for the two-time defending tournament champions, combining to shut out the Roadrunners over the final five and two thirds innings.

“I mean, we did think they’d go to Benbrook and Montiel, so we were totally prepared for those guys,” Hallmark said.

At that point, the coach digressed in his thoughts, returning to address the UTSA season as a whole.

“I don’t want to dodge the question,” Hallmark said. “We’re proud of what we done, but we want to keep playing. I hope we’re the last team that gets to play baseball (this season). That would be awesome.”

Speaking in the aftermath of the loss, the coach said he just wanted to get together with his players and congratulate them.

“Right now we wait to see what happens,” he said. “But I’m going to tell the guys to eat some lunch and go have a good time the rest of this afternoon. They’ve earned that. I hope they grieve a little bit and get over this loss.

“We’ll have a couple days off. We won’t practice tomorrow, for sure. We’ll travel. We might not even practice Monday. Find out what’s going on and where we’re going (in the NCAA postseason). Hopefully we’re going somewhere, and we’ll probably get back to work on Tuesday.”

Records

Tulane 33-24
UTSA 44-13

Notable

Plans for the NCAA bracket reveal on Monday aren’t settled, Hallmark said. “The team will definitely be together,” he said. “I don’t know if there’ll be any outsiders. These guys are pretty tight. I’ve already heard some rumblings that they want it pretty close-knit. So I’ll talk to my bosses and I’ll talk to the players, and I hope it’s the players’ decision.”

AAC tournament semifinals: Tulane advances to the finals after ousting top-seeded UTSA

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Good morning from San Antonio

I’m up early this morning, following the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament on ESPN +. The top-seeded UTSA Roadrunners enter the day needing to play and win two games against the Tulane Green Wave to advance to Sunday’s finals. Tulane only needs to win once. Furthermore, UTSA is in a bind, having used all three of their front-line starting pitchers this week, so Sam Simmons is on the mound to open the game. Tulane jumps on him immediately, scoring one run on three hits in the top of the first. Mattias Haas delivered an RBI single to right center, scoring Jason Wachs from third base. Wachs led off with a single and Connor Rasmussen followed with a one-out hit, another single, to put runners at first and third. Haas made it 1-0 with the third hit of the inning.

Roadrunners take the lead

It’s the top of the third inning, and the Tulane Green Wave are rallying again. This time, against UTSA pitcher Gunnar Brown. Brown replaces Sam Simmons and made it through the second inning unscathed, only to find trouble in the third. It starts with a leadoff walk to Jason Wachs and continues with a single by Gavin Schulz. On the hit, Wachs moves to third. From there, he scores on a Connor Rasmussen sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the third, the Roadrunners start to percolate. With a couple of runners on base against Trey Cehajic, Mason Lytle grounds to short on what appeared to be a routine play. But Kaikea Harrison, off balance, throws it away at first base. Both runners score and Lytle moves to second. James Taussig follows with an RBI single to right to take a 3-2 lead.

Green Wave come back to tie

In the top of the fifth, Roadrunners reliever Gunnar Brown hangs a breaking pitch and Green Wave hitter Kaikea Harrison drills it into the right field corner for a leadoff double. Later, Harrison moves to third base on a ground ball and scores to tie the game 3-3 on an RBI single by Gavin Schultz. Tulane continues to create momentum in the bottom half when reliever Carter Benbrook retires three straight, including an inning-ending strikeout against UTSA slugger James Tassig. Going back to the third inning, Benbrook has retired five straight batters. In the sixth inning, UTSA pitching falters. Brown walks two straight, prompting UTSA coach Pat Hallmark to make a change. Braylon Owens enters to pitch, only to issue another walk. With the bases loaded, Tanner Chun bounces a two-run single through the left side to make it 5-3. Owens, who started and pitched five and two thirds inning on Tuesday, settles down and struck out two straight to end the threat.

Tulane opens a three-run lead

Gavin Schulz and Connor Rasmussen continue to torment the UTSA Roadrunners. Facing UTSA’s Braylon Owens, Schulz opens the sixth with a double and moves to third on Rasmussen’s single. When Matthias Haas hits into a double play, Schulz scores from third base to make it 6-3. Carter Benbrook continues to pitch well for the Green Wave. He works around a Ty Hodge single to keep UTSA scoreless in the bottom of the seventh. Benbrook’s numbers are impressive so far, with three and two thirds innings scoreless, allowing only one hit.

Green Wave advance

Tulane wins, 6-3.

Tulane wins 10-6 to cool off top-seeded UTSA at the AAC tournament

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The two-time defending tournament champions in the American Athletic Conference have worked their postseason magic once again. Fifth-seeded Tulane bashed a season-high five home runs Thursday in a 10-6 victory over No. 1 UTSA in a winners’ bracket game at Clearwater, Fla.

With a 2-0 record this week, the Green Wave have now won eight straight at this event dating back to 2023. As a result, they will advance into Saturday’s semifinals.

The Roadrunners, now 1-1 in the American Baseball Championship, will play Friday at noon (Central time) in an elimination game against the Florida Atlantic Owls. The winner will move into Saturday’s semis needing two wins against the Green Wave to advance to Sunday’s finals.

For the third straight year, Tulane has started the tournament with two straight wins. It’s one of the reasons their players call the BayCare Ballpark their home away from home.

“I would like to think of that as a body of work,” Tulane coach Jay Uhlman said. “It doesn’t always work out the way we’ve wanted it to work out in terms of volumes of wins. But I think the thing we do is, we teach through the wins. We teach through the losses. We teach through the tough times. Our guys believe.

“We’re like family. We have arguments and fights and disagreements. I don’t give everyone what they want all the time, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. But I think the body of work as you go through a season, the trust even in times when they don’t get what they want, that we’re doing everything we can the right way.

“It’s really important.”

James Agabedis III, a Tulane junior from Sudbury, Mass., hit two of the Green Wave’s homers. He blasted solo shots in the fourth and eighth innings. All the slugging backed the pitching of left-handed relief specialist Taylor Montiel, who worked three and two thirds scoreless innings to close the game.

Monteil (5-2) allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out four. Connor Kelley (3-1) was the losing pitcher for the Roadrunners.

Trailing for most of the game, the Roadrunners came to life in the sixth with three runs to tie. UTSA strung together four hits, including an RBI single by Caden Miller and a two-run single by Lorenzo Morresi.

Morresi’s liner with the bases loaded landed safely in center field, bringing in Miller from third and James Taussig from second to tie the score, 6-6. A key play unfolded when Nathan Hodge beat out a fielder’s choice, only to be erased on double play when Moressi was called for interference on a slide at second base.

The eighth inning was the undoing for the Roadrunners, who entered with a 14-1 record in their last 15 games. First, Agabedis homered off UTSA’s Kelley to break a tie and give the Green Wave a one-run lead. After Kelley was pulled for Rob Orloski, Jason Wachs blasted a two-run shot to make it 9-6.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark tipped his cap to Monteil, a redshirt junior from Brentwood, Tenn. At one point, Monteil struck out four batters in a row.

“He’s good,” the coach said. “He’s been doing that all year. If you look at his numbers, he doesn’t get hit. I think it’s something like, it’s well less than a hit an inning … He’s got that fastball that moves. A little bit on the frontside where he hides the ball. He throws hard.

“I didn’t expect to hit him real good. But I did think if we kept it tied or within one run that anything’s possible. The two-run homer (in the eighth) after the solo hurt us a little bit. That was a bad call. Rob executed the pitch. The call was a mistake. We called a high fastball – to a high fastball hitter.”

Hallmark said UTSA is one of the few teams in the nation that have the catchers call the pitches and that Andrew Stucky and Morresi do a great job in that part of the game.

“We just happened to make a mistake there,” Hallmark said. “(The high fastball) is Rob’s best pitch. So I knew why Stucky called it. He called his pitcher’s best pitch. So, I don’t know that it’s a mistake. But, Wachs is a good high fastball hitter.”

The coach said he’s more frustrated with the pitches early in the game from starter Zach Royse that were thrown in the middle of the plate. Royse gave up six runs on seven hits, including three home runs.

Records

Tulane 32-24
UTSA 43-12

Notable

If UTSA comes up short of the title this week in Clearwater, the Roadrunners remain a strong candidate to gain an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament based on their record (43-12), their regular-season title (23-4 in conference) and their No. 22 standing in the national rating percentage index coming into Thursday.

Since the AAC baseball conference formed for the 2014 season, each team that has won or shared a regular-season title has received a bid to an NCAA regional, either with an at-large or an automatic bid. UTSA clinched a share of the AAC regular-season title on May 4 after it swept a three-game road series at South Florida. It clinched the title outright on May 9 with a road victory at East Carolina.

When UTSA swept Rice last week in San Antonio to close the regular season, it secured victories in all nine AAC series on its schedule. Five of them were three-game sweeps. Moreover, they won the AAC by five games over second-place Charlotte.

By hitting the 40-win plateau on May 15 and reaching win No. 42 after the regular-season finale last Saturday, UTSA became only the seventh AAC team in history to take 40-plus victories into the conference tournament. The previous six all eventually received NCAA bids.

NCAA selections will be announced Monday.

Thursday’s results

Tulane 10, UTSA 6
East Carolina 6, Charlotte 5

Friday’s games

FAU vs. UTSA, elimination game, noon
South Florida vs. Charlotte, elimination game, 47 minutes after the first game

Saturday’s games

Semifinals
Tulane vs. FAU or UTSA, 8 a.m.
East Carolina vs. South Florida or Charlotte, 47 minutes after the first game
Tulane vs. FAU or UTSA, if necessary, TBD
East Carolina vs. South Florida or Charlotte, if necessary, TBD

Sunday’s game

Finals
Semifinals winners play in the title game, 11 a.m.

UTSA baseball continues its conference tournament title quest in Florida

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The top-seeded UTSA Roadrunners will take on the No. 5 Tulane Green Wave today at noon (Central time) in the winners’ bracket at the American Baseball Championship.

Later today, sixth-seeded East Carolina will play No. 2 Charlotte. While the losers will play on Friday, the winners will move into the semifinals scheduled for Saturday. The tournament is double elimination through the semifinals, while the a winner-take-all game in the finals is set for Sunday.

All games are being held at the BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.

Both Tulane and UTSA scored victories on Tuesday on the opening day of the tournament. After Tulane beat Florida Atlantic, 6-3, UTSA took the field and rallied for a 4-2 victory over Rice. Now they play today for a chance to move into the semifinals.

The champion of the American Athletic Conference’s postseason event in Clearwater will be rewarded with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If UTSA comes up short, the Pat Hallmark-coached Roadrunners remain a strong candidate to gain an at-large NCAA bid based on their record (43-11), their regular-season title (23-4 in conference) and their No. 22 standing in the national rating percentage index.

Since the AAC baseball conference formed for the 2014 season, each team that has won or shared a regular-season title has received an at-large bid to an NCAA regional. UTSA clinched a share of the AAC regular-season title on May 4 after it swept a three-game road series at South Florida. It clinched the title outright on May 9 with a road victory at East Carolina.

When UTSA swept Rice last week in San Antonio, it secured victories in all nine AAC series on its schedule. Five of them were three-game sweeps. By hitting the 40-win plateau on May 15 and reaching No. 42 after the regular-season finale last Saturday, UTSA became only the seventh AAC team in history to take 40-plus victories into the conference tournament. The previous six all eventually received NCAA bids.

NCAA selections will be announced Monday.

Tuesday’s results

(Opening day)
Tulane 6, FAU 3
UTSA 4, Rice 2
Charlotte 7, Wichita State 1
East Carolina 9, South Florida 4

Wednesday’s results

FAU 8, Rice 6 (Rice eliminated)
South Florida 4, Wichita State 3 (Wichita State eliminated)

Thursday

(Winners’ bracket, times are Central)
UTSA vs. Tulane, noon
East Carolina vs. Charlotte, 47 minutes after the first game

Friday

(Elimination games, times are Central)
FAU vs. Tulane or UTSA, noon
South Florida vs. East Carolina or Charlotte, 47 minutes after the first game

Saturday

Semifinals
UTSA or Tulane vs TBA, 8 a.m.
East Carolina or Charlotte vs. TBA, 47 minutes after the first game
Games to follow (if necessary) to complete double elimination

Sunday

Finals
First pitch, 11 a.m.

Top-seeded UTSA rallies to beat No. 8 Rice on opening day at the AAC tournament

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After top-seeded UTSA rallied to beat the No. 8 Rice Owls 4-2 Tuesday on opening day at the American Baseball Championship, Roadrunners outfielder James Taussig vowed to take a fishing trip on an off day with some of his teammates, his brother and his father.

It’ll be on the aqua blue saltwater somewhere outside of Clearwater, Fla.

“We’re going to hit the redfish hard,” Taussig told ESPN.

Trailing by a run going into the bottom of the eighth at the BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, the Roadrunners started to hit the baseball pretty hard to stoke a game-winning rally.

The Owls had one out when starting pitcher Davion Hickson threw a curve on a 2-2 count that grazed Caden Miller in the leg, sending him to first base with a free pass. He promptly moved to third when American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Mason Lytle singled into center field, giving the Roadrunners men at the corners.

With one of the Roadrunners’ top hitters coming to the plate, Hickson knew he would need to pitch carefully. But Taussig, who was named first-team all conference in the AAC on Monday, stroked a fastball in the middle of the plate for a two-run double that allowed UTSA to take the lead.

As his line drive split the gap between the outfielders in right and center, Miller scored easily and Lytle, a speedster, made it all the way around, beating a relay throw to the plate with a slide to make it 3-2.

Later, Norris McClure sliced an RBI single into left field off reliever Garrett Stratton, bringing Taussig in to score and giving the Roadrunners a two-run cushion. Reliever Robert Orloski (8-0) shut down the Owls in order in the top of the ninth to secure the Roadrunners’ first victory in a conference tournament since 2022.

Hickson (2-7) pitched into the eighth inning and took the loss.

“Great comeback,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said on a zoom call with the media. “That’s the opening statement. These guys keep doing it. So, happy to be along for the ride.”

Pitching, in many ways, carried the Roadrunners and helped them improve on their program record with 43 victories this season. In winning for the 14th time in their last 15 games, the Roadrunners limited the Owls to just two hits.

Starter Braylon Owens yielded both hits and gave up two runs, one of them earned, in 5 and 1/3 innings. The senior from Elgin pitched out of trouble a few times and struck out 11. Orloski worked the final 3 and 1/3 innings scoreless on no hits. The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Idaho, a one-time draft pick out of high school by the Boston Red Sox, struck out three and walked one.

On the offensive side, Taussig and Lytle both went three for four at the plate. Lytle, a senior from Pearland, staked UTSA to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo home run.

The Owls played small ball and scored one run in the fifth and one in the sixth off Owens to take the lead.

In the fifth, a leadoff walk led to trouble for Owens and UTSA. As Tobias Motley bunted in front of the mound, Owens fielded it and threw wildly into center field. It put runners at first and third with nobody out. At that point, the Owls bunted again to tie the score. Colin Robson laid down a sacrifice to score Cole Green from third base, making it a 1-1 ball game.

The opportunistic Owls scored again in the sixth to take a 2-1 lead. With one out, Hiram Bocachica walked and stole second base. One out later, Paul Smith singled up the middle to score Bocachica. Hickson finished with 7 and 1/3 innings and seven strikeouts. He gave up four runs on seven hits.

Records

Rice 17-39
UTSA 43-11

Tuesday’s results

Tulane 6, Florida Atlantic 3
UTSA 4, Rice 2
Charlotte 7, Wichita State 1
East Carolina 9, South Florida 4

Wednesday’s games

Rice vs. Florida Atlantic, noon, elimination
Wichita State vs. South Florida, 47 minutes after conclusion of first game, elimination

Thursday’s games

Tulane vs. UTSA, noon, winners bracket
East Carolina vs. Charlotte, 47 minutes after conclusion of first game, winners bracket

Notable

UTSA swept four games from the Owls in the past six days. The Roadrunners won Thursday, Friday and Saturday in San Antonio and again on Tuesday in Clearwater.

Roadrunners infielder Norris McClure was knocked out of the series finale in San Antonio with a leg bruise, but he bounced back and picked up two hits and an RBI as the designated hitter in his first Division I tournament game. With the two hits, McClure extended his batting streak to 20 games.

Speculation continues to swirl around the Roadrunners and whether their win-loss record and their RPI, at No. 22 nationally coming into Tuesday, will yield an NCAA tournament bid next week.

During the Rice game, television commentators were projecting that UTSA would be in the 64-team field when it is announced next Monday.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark, whose team has won road games at Texas and Texas A&M, said on the postgame zoom that he didn’t know whether his team would make it and, with the rest of the AAC event to play, he said he doesn’t care about the speculation.

“Obviously I want to play in the regional but I don’t control that,” Hallmark said. “I’m focused on the team and the opponent. I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. I just know these questions are coming. (Three) years ago when we were making a run, when we got that RPI pretty solid, these same questions were coming and they’re hard to answer.

“I’ve seen the basketball coaches. They give the spiels and politic. Not me. Like, we’re going to play ball, and I’m happy to be a part of this group. I don’t know the answer, and I’m not going to worry about it, honestly. I’m going to prepare for Tulane and celebrate a little bit with the guys.”

UTSA defeated Tulane two out of three in a series earlier this season in San Antonio.

Coached by Jay Uhlman, the Green Wave have advanced to the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons by winning the AAC postseason crown. In 2023, they entered as a No. 7 seed and won four out of five to win the championship. Playing as a No. 3 seed in last spring, they went 4-0, downing Wichita State 11-10 in the title game. Tulane improved its record to 31-24 with the victory over Florida Atlantic.

Top-seeded UTSA opens conference tournament today in Florida against No. 8 Rice

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The UTSA baseball team watches as the seniors are honored on Saturday. UTSA beat Rice 7-0 in the final game of the regular season at Roadrunner Field on Saturday, May 17, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA baseball team opens play today in the American Baseball Championship. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners might well be the only team at the American Baseball Championship that could fall short of the conference’s postseason title and still get an invitation to the NCAA tournament.

Sitting at No. 22 in the ratings percentage index, or RPI, the top-seeded Roadrunners will tote a regular-season conference title and a 42-11 record into Tuesday’s opening game against the No. 8 Rice Owls.

It’s purely speculation, but if UTSA can beat Rice, and then tack on a couple more victories after that, they probably would stand a fair chance of gaining an at-large NCAA bid even if they were to lose in the championship game on Sunday.

But before traveling to Clearwater, Fla., where the American’s eight-team event will be played at the BayCare Ballpark, UTSA coach Pat Hallmark was asked if he had given thought about how many more wins he needed this week to secure the program’s first bid in 12 years.

He said he’s not really thinking in those terms.

“As much as we talk about expectations and playing a certain way, we don’t talk a ton about winning,” he said Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field. “Because, sometimes, winning is out of your control. We talk about the quality of the play. So, we’re going to try to go play quality baseball. Throw strikes. Swing at strikes.

“When we swing, we want ‘em to be violent swings. And then we talk about making one error or less in the field. That’s what we’re going to keep talking about, and if we do that, the wins will take care of themselves. Just like these 42 wins (in the regular season) did.”

UTSA hasn’t reached an NCAA tournament since the 2013 season, when the Roadrunners played in the Western Athletic Conference. They’ve been in contention in each of the past three seasons going into the 2022 and 2023 Conference USA tournaments and the 2024 American tournament.

But, each time, the Roadrunners failed to make the 64-team national field.

In 2022, at Hattiesburg, Miss., they entered as a No. 5 seed with 35 wins and won three straight games, beating the nationally-ranked, host-team Southern Miss Golden Eagles twice in a row, only to lose 9-8 in the championship game to Louisiana Tech. Even with 38 wins, a strong finish and an RPI of No. 37, it wasn’t good enough for UTSA to make the NCAA.

Two years ago, in their final season in the C-USA, they entered the tournament at Houston with 38 wins and high hopes. Though they were seeded second in the field, they dropped their opener to No. 7 Middle Tennessee, 5-1, and then lost again, falling 11-2 to No. 3 Charlotte.

Last season, in their first season in the American, they once again entered as a two seed but couldn’t hold serve.

Seventh-seeded Charlotte scored four runs in the top of the 12th inning and spoiled UTSA’s opener for the second year in a row, this time by a 9-5 count. Stunned, the Roadrunners had to play the next day and lost again, falling 12-5 to the FAU Owls.

With only 32 wins, their NCAA hopes were dashed.

This year, the Roadrunners have no intention of letting anything like that happen three years in a row. After winning the American title going away by five games over second-place Charlotte, they’re confident they have the best team.

In fact, outfielder James Taussig said that with 42 victories and wins over Texas and Texas A&M on the road, he “would hope” that UTSA would get an NCAA bid even if it were to go 0-2 again.

“I think our full season, our body of work, has shown that we’re a complete team and we can play in the postseason,” he said. “I don’t plan on going 0-2. I don’t think anyone out here is planning on going 0-2. We’re going to stay locked in and focused, because there’s another championship to win.”

In other words, winning the postseason crown will be just as much fun as taking home the regular season title, so that is the goal. “Exactly,” Taussig said.

UTSA catcher Andrew Stucky said last year’s disappointment in Clearwater will serve as motivation this time around.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “A couple of us have mentioned that, saying that it’s not going to happen again this year. But I think we’re going into it this year a whole lot more confident. Just in ourselves and each other. So, we’re really excited to go out there and just keep playing like we do.”

Records

Rice 17-38, 10-17
UTSA 42-11, 23-4

Coming up

AAC tournament, at Clearwater, Fla., with top-seeded UTSA playing No. 8 Rice today. The tournament will run through May 25 at the BayCare Ballpark.

Tuesday, May 20

(All times Central)
Game 1: No. 5 Tulane vs. No. 4 Florida Atlantic | 8 a.m. | ESPN+
Game 2: No. 8 Rice vs. No. 1 UTSA | 47 minutes after Game 1 | ESPN+
Game 3: No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 2 Charlotte | 3 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 4: No. 6 East Carolina vs. No. 3 South Florida | 47 minutes after Game 3 | ESPN+