Newcomer Josh Arquette hit UTSA’s first home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning to ignite an eight-hit, seven-run rally. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Twenty-three pitches into UTSA’s new baseball season, the crowd at Roadrunner Field fell silent.
Robert Orloski, the team’s ace pitcher, clutched at his upper right arm and grimaced in pain after delivering a fastball that sailed high and out of the strike zone.
Once the training staff ran out to check on him, it didn’t take long before he walked off the field to cheers of support from an anxious fan base.
Mike DeBattista relieved injured Rob Orloski 23 pitches into the first inning and pitched three innings scoreless to earn the victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Trailing by one run at the time, the Roadrunners steadied themselves. Mike DeBattista retired Travis Finney to retire the side.
After that, the UTSA offense took over in a big way, pounding four home runs among 19 hits in a 17-4 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
An announced crowd of 953 turned out to celebrate the Roadrunners’ historic run to the NCAA Super Regionals last year, but the injury to Orloski likely lingered in the back of everyone’s mind as they left the ball park.
Sort of a bittersweet feeling, for sure.
UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said he didn’t know too much about the injury. “I kind of know what ya’ll know, I guess,” he said. “They’re checking him out. We’ll see where we go from here.”
Roadrunners third baseman Josh Arquette, who hit a solo home run to ignite a seven-run second inning, acknowledged that he’s worried about the team’s opening-day starter and one-time draft pick of the Boston Red Sox.
“We’ll be praying for him,” Arquette said. “I hope everyone else prays for him and hopefully it’s all well and it’s nothing too serious, and he’s able to get back and get back to competing for us.”
UTSA’s Andrew Stucky hammered a 390-foot plus, three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to make it 12-1. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Game 2 of the three-game series is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday. The finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Roadrunners put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first to take the lead and then broke it open in the second.
Doing damage against Jackrabbits starter Ty Madison and Trey Husar, UTSA punched out eight hits to score seven times in the frame.
Arquette, a sophomore transfer from Panola Junior College, hammered a leadoff homer and added another RBI on a sacrifice fly at the end of the inning.
Describing his mindset going into his first at bat in NCAA Division I, Arquette said he was “just feeling good up there, confident with all the work we’ve put in.
“You know, just trying to have fun with the boys and enjoying the first game, the first time out here, couldn’t be any more exciting.”
Other highlights in the inning included Drew Detlefsen’s two-run double, RBI singles by Wichita State transfer Lane Haworth and freshman Nathan Johnson and an RBI bunt single by the coach’s son, Christian Hallmark.
UTSA had three more homers, including a 390-foot, three-run shot by Andrew Stucky, a two-run blast by Diego Diaz and a 404-foot solo shot to center by Broc Parmer.
Diego Diaz (5) jumps into a gathering of teammates who celebrated his two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Parmer’s homer was a thing of beauty, if you were a fan of the Roadrunners. It sailed high and kept going, cutting through wind to the right of the batter’s eye and to the left of a pole adorned with the U.S. flag.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of that (power),” Arquette said. “I think our team has a lot of it. As long as we just stay within ourselves and trust in ourselves and our coaches, we’ll keep hitting it. We’ll keep doing our thing.”
In the UTSA pitching department, all was not gloomy. DeBattista, who had only spot duty last season, pitched three scoreless innings. He yielded three hits, struck out two and made one nice defensive play.
With two out and runners at second and third in the top of the second, South Dakota State slugger Luke Luskey bounced a high-hop single to first base.
Caden Miller fielded it and flipped at the bag to DeBattista, who immediately wheeled and fired home to catcher Andrew Stucky, who put a swipe tag on a head-first sliding Owen Siegert, who was out trying to score from second.
It was the first of two gold-star defensive plays by UTSA pitching. In the eighth inning, reliever Christian Okerholm dove to the third-base side of the mound and snared a hard-hit ground ball, popped up and threw to first for the third out.
Fans rose up from their seats and cheered Okerholm as he walked back to the UTSA dugout.
“A good play,” Pat Hallmark said. “(Hall of Fame pitcher) Greg Maddux used to make a bunch of good plays like that. So, yeah, a good play. We have what we call PFP. You know, pitcher fielding practice.
UTSA coach Pat Hallmark’s offense erupted for four home runs among 19 hits in a 17-4 victory over South Dakota State. .- Photo by Joe Alexander
“We do it all the time, and those guys give each other a hard time on who the best athlete is. So, Okerholm probably has bragging rights now.”
Hallmark also said DeBattista was great in shutting down the Jackrabbits back in the first inning.
“I was a little worried right when he came in,” the coach said. “We needed the breaking ball, and he missed with a couple of them. But then he settled in and found everything. Threw some good changeups to left-handed hitters. Found his breaking ball.
“Once he got his feet on the ground a little bit, he was fine. Happy for him. Last year, Mike wanted to pitch, and there just wasn’t a spot for him. Again, it’s early. Not ready to say anyone’s got anything locked up. But, Mike is hungry, and we like hungry people.”
Records
South Dakota State 0-1
UTSA 1-0
Coming up
South Dakota State at UTSA, Saturday, at 6 p.m.
South Dakota State at UTSA, Sunday, at 1 p.m.
Notable
One of the questions looming ahead of the season opener revolved around who would step into the center field spot played so adroitly over the last two years by Mason Lytle.
UTSA starter Robert Orloski suffered an unspecified injury to his throwing arm and failed to make it out of the first inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander
As it turned out, the name was familiar. It was a kid named Hallmark. It was junior college transfer Christian Hallmark, the son of the head coach.
The coach’s son produced two hits and three RBIs in his first game with the Roadrunners, which was also his first in Division I.
One of the hits was an RBI bunt single that kept alive the Roadrunners’ big rally in the second inning.
“He had a good game,” Pat Hallmark said. “The bunt was big. Little stuff like that goes a long way.”
Against a left-handed pitcher, Christian Hallmark, who bats lefty, put his bat on the ball and nudged it right where it needed to go.
“I was happy to see him do that,” the coach said.
The 953 attendance count was a UTSA record for a home opener.
Rob Orloski, an Idaho native who was drafted out of high school by the Boston Red Sox, recorded an 8-0 record last year with nine saves and posted a 3.36 earned run average.
As a freshman in 2024, he struggled at times as a starter but did have his moments, beating East Carolina’s Trey Yesavage in one memorable performance at Roadrunner Field.
Yesavage reached the major leagues last year with the Toronto Blue Jays and pitched in the World Series.
Broc Parmer’s solo homer in the seventh inning traveled 404 feet and landed beyond the wall in center field. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Opening-day scoreboard
Texas 12, UC Davis 2, 7 innings, at Austin
Texas A&M 15, Tennessee Tech 6, at College Station
TCU 5, Vanderbilt 4, at Arlington
Dallas Baptist 13, Binghamton 2, at Dallas
Dallas Baptist 14, Binghamton 1, at Dallas
Baylor 15, New Mexico State 2, 7 innings, at Waco
(Baylor’s Tyce Armstrong hits three grand slams)
Xavier 4, East Carolina 3, at Greenville, N.C.