By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
With two weekends remaining in the regular season, the first-place UTSA Roadrunners are expected to face a strong challenge in American Conference play this weekend.
UTSA third baseman Diego Diaz slugged a home run to highlight a four-for-four performance in an 11-8 loss against fourth-ranked Texas on Tuesday night. – Photo by Joe Alexander
The Roadrunners, leading the conference by two games, will play three on the road starting Friday night against the surging Memphis Tigers.
It’s a team that has emerged in the past month as an unlikely spoiler in the race for the championship.
“Their record’s not wonderful,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “But they’re playing their best baseball right now.”
Looking at the season as a whole, some might wonder why the Roadrunners should be overly concerned with the Tigers.
Didn’t the Tigers (19-28 overall, 10-11 in the American) lose nine of their first 11 games this season?
Didn’t they lose eight of their first 12 in conference? This is all true.
The Roadrunners (33-15, 15-6) indeed will see a team this weekend in Memphis that earlier in conference lost in weekend series to Tulane and South Florida.
Both of those teams are now tied for last in the American
At the same time, Memphis’ record is deceiving. It took its lumps early during a competitive non-conference schedule and then completely changed its mindset and outlook.
Since the middle of April, the Tigers have won nine of their last 14 games.
In conference play, they’ve won six of their last nine, with series victories over the second- and fourth-place teams in the American.
The turnaround may have started on April 14 when the Tigers, opening a weekend series in Houston, defeated the Rice Owls, 4-1.
They went on to sweep three games, including the finale when they rallied for four runs over their last three at bats to claim a 6-5 thriller in 10 innings.
Pitcher Logan Rushing nailed down the victory in the bottom of the 10th after giving up a one-out double.
Underscoring both the Tigers’ potential and the parity in the American, the Owls have since rallied into fourth place since that April 16 setback.
Last week, playing at home, the Tigers struck again.
They lost the opener but then rebounded to win the next two in a series over the second-place East Carolina Pirates, a perennial NCAA tournament team.
The Pirates dominated the opener, claiming a 12-0, run-rule victory in eight innings. From there, the Tigers took over.
In the second game, they defeated East Carolina ace lefthander Ethan Norby in a 5-3 victory.
Riding the momentum, Memphis won again the next day, 9-4.
Freddy Rodriguez and Shane Cox homered for the Tigers to affect the outcome of a game that, incidentally, helped boost UTSA into its two-game lead.
Hallmark said it’s always a challenge to face teams coached by Memphis’ Matt Riser.
“They always pitch,” he said. “They’re well coached … I know coach Riser well.
“(They’re) a little bit like us offensively. He tries to play a complete offense and bunt and run, if it’s there, but he also wants to stand in the box and get some hits.”
The Tigers’ running game on the bases is one of the best. They’ve registered a nation’s 27th-best 108 stolen bases, with Rodriguez fourth individually in that department.
Rodriguez has 37 steals in 42 attempts, while Javon Hernandez is 23 out of 24.
“They’ll be good,” Hallmark said. “They reloaded a little bit with a kid named (Michael) Gupton in center, who (UTSA assistant Ryan) Aguayo was on heavily (in recruiting) this summer. And, frankly, we couldn’t afford him.
“I guess Memphis could, because he ended up at Memphis. But he’s got (13) home runs for ’em. A very, very talented hitter. So they can swing the bat a little bit.”
UTSA, a team that has won all seven conference series this season and 18 straight since May of 2024, is coming off an emotional mid-week loss at fourth-ranked Texas.
Having won four games in a row, including a conference sweep at home last weekend against Wichita State, the Roadrunners played in Austin on Tuesday night and lost 11-8 to fourth-ranked Texas.
Making strong cases at UTSA for all-conference consideration are position players Drew Detlefsen, Caden Miller, Lane Haworth and Andrew Stucky, plus pitchers Conor Myles, Connor Kelley and Sam Simmons.
Records
UTSA 33-15, 15-6
Memphis 19-28, 10-11
Coming up
UTSA at Memphis, Friday, 6 p.m.
UTSA at Memphis, Saturday, 2 p.m.
UTSA at Memphis, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Texas State at UTSA, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
American leaderboard
UTSA 15-6, 33-15
East Carolina 13-8, 29-19-1
UAB 12-9, 28-20
Rice 11-10, 29-20
Wichita State 10-11, 26-23
FAU 10-11, 25-23
Memphis 10-11, 19-28
Charlotte 8-13, 23-25
South Florida 8-13, 29-18
Tulane 8-13, 23-27