Caden Miller says it’s encouraging to see more and more fans coming out to Roadrunner Field, particularly the younger fans and children. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
UTSA baseball players are starting to notice an uptick in attendance at home games.
“It’s amazing,” UTSA first baseman Caden Miller said. “Most of the time we don’t get 1,000 (people) here.
“Like you’ve said, the last few times we’ve been at home, we’ve had a thousand, and it’s huge.”
Coming off a season-high crowd of 1,140 at Tuesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, the Roadrunners are preparing to host the East Carolina Pirates Friday night.
The Pirates, who have made 34 appearances in the NCAA tournament in their storied history, will bring a 15-10-1 record into the opener of a three-game series in the American Conference.
UTSA will enter the weekend at 18-7, and both are 2-1 after the conference’s opening weekend. East Carolina was the American’s preseason favorite, with UTSA second.
Both are coming off NCAA tournament appearances last year, with the Roadrunners still riding the crest of a regional championship win at Texas and their first trip to a Super Regional.
“It’s really fun to see what’s being built here,” Miller said. “You know, getting people from San Antonio to come here to watch our games, no matter who we play.”
Miller said he gets a kick out of seeing so many children at the games, some of them already playing in youth leagues.
“The kids,” said Miller, a sophomore from Madisonville, “that’s a big thing. Just playing for the kids, man.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see. All these kids out here, looking at us, watching us play. (We’re) hoping we can be inspiration to them to continue to play.
“But, yeah, the fans, the atmosphere, it’s really exciting. It’s really fun to see.”
In 11 home games this season, the attendance has been 10,750, for an average of 977 per game.
UTSA drew 2,624 fans over three days in its season-opening series against South Dakota State, followed by 3,048 for Dallas Baptist and then a record 3,182 for UT Arlington.
The past two weekends have been the best attended three-game series in program history, with both being the only times since Roadrunner Field opened in 1993 that the venue has averaged better than 1,000 per game.
Records
East Carolina 15-10-1
UTSA 18-7
Coming up
East Carolina at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
East Carolina at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
East Carolina at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Notable
East Carolina lefthander Ethan Norby (2-1, 3.77) is the team’s Friday night starter. He is the 70th best draft prospect for 2026 according to mlb.com.
The Pirates also have 6-foot-7 righty Gavin Van Kempen (1-1, 1.84) as a starter and righty Sean Jenkins (2-1, 2.02) out of the bullpen. Van Kempen’s WHIP is an excellent 0.85, with Jenkins at 1.05.
East Carolina’s leading hitters for average are Davin Whitaker (.382), Walker Barron (.369) and Braden Burress (.364). Power threats are Whitaker and Grady Lenahan (both with five home runs) and Austin Irby with four.
“They’re good,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “They’re always good. They got a ton of talent.”
A concern for Hallmark centers around East Carolina’s pitching staff having five lefthanders, raising a question of whether he uses more right-handed bats, or stays with a lefty-heavy lineup.
The Roadrunners are hitting .326 as a team and scoring nearly 10 runs per game (240 in 25 games). Their pitching and defense have been solid of late.
In their last four games, the Roadrunners have yielded 17 runs.
But twice in that stretch, they have held opponents to one run, including in a 4-1 victory at FAU on March 20 and a 3-1 victory Tuesday night over A&M-Corpus Christi.
Also in the last four, their defense has committed one error or less in every game, including two error-free outings.