By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA on Saturday bounced back from a loss in the series opener and downed the UAB Blazers 7-5 at Roadrunner Field. With the series knotted at one win apiece, UTSA and UAB will play the finale of the three-game set on Sunday at noon.

Caleb Hill, Alex Olivo and Mark Henning each had two hits apiece for the Roadrunners. Hill and Olivo scored twice and Henning had two RBI. Reliever Daniel Garza (3-1) pitched five innings to earn the victory.

With the win, the Roadrunners kept pace with the East Carolina Pirates in the chase for first place in the American Athletic Conference. Later in the day, the Pirates rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the Wichita State Shockers, 11-7.

UTSA and East Carolina are tied for first place at 10-4.

Records

UAB 17-20, 5-9
UTSA 23-16, 10-4

Series at a glance

Game 1: UAB 7, UTSA 3
Game 2: UTSA 7, UAB 5

Coming up

UAB at UTSA, Sunday, noon.

Notable

UTSA’s Mason Lytle was hit on his batting helmet by a pitch in the bottom of the second inning and had to come out of the game briefly. After he was checked out by a trainer, he took the field in the top of the third and played the rest of the game. Lytle leads the Roadrunners with a .388 average.

Roadrunners utility man Isaiah Walker played in a game for the first time since April 5. Sidelined with injuries for much of the season, he came off the bench to pinch hit in the bottom of the third and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the fourth, he entered the defensive alignment at third base. He finished one for two on the day.

The Roadrunners have won all four of their weekend series in the American, and now they’ll try to make it five for five with a victory on Sunday. UTSA has claimed series victories over East Carolina (2-1), Tulane (3-0), Charlotte (2-1) and Memphis (2-1).