By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
First-place UTSA is scheduled to host the Charlotte 49ers today at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field in the opener of an American Conference baseball series.
The defending regular-season champion Roadrunners (25-12, 8-4) are tied for first in the conference with the UAB Blazers. The 49ers (18-18, 3-9) are in last place in the 10-team league.
Records
Charlotte 18-18, 3-9
UTSA 25-12, 8-4
Coming up
American Conference
Charlotte at UTSA, Friday, 6 p.m.
Charlotte at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Charlotte at UTSA, Sunday, 11 a.m.
Non conference
UTSA at Texas A&M, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
Notable
The Roadrunners have won each of their four series in the American by two games to one margins, but at the same time, they are 2-2 in those weekend openers.
UTSA weekend openers in the American:
March 20 — Won 4-1 at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton
March 27 — Lost 3-0 at home to East Carolina
April 2 — Lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Rice in Houston
April 10 — Won 11-3 at home against South Florida
UTSA’s streak of series victories in the American has reached 15, dating to May of 2024.
The Roadrunners have lost two straight games and are looking to turn that around to avoid a three-game skid, which would tie for their longest of the season. The 49ers have lost eight games in a row.
Despite their recent woes, both the Roadrunners (33) and the 49ers (92) rank in the top 100 in the ratings percentage index, which is used to seed the NCAA tournament.
UTSA has the best RPI in the conference. Here are the American standings with records in conference, followed by overall record and RPI:
UTSA 8-4, 25-12 — 33
UAB 8-4, 23-14 — 47
Rice 7-5, 24-14 — 54
Wichita State 7-5, 23-15 — 148
East Carolina 7-5, 22-15-1 — 40
South Florida 6-6, 26-10 — 50
Tulane 6-6, 20-18 — 136
FAU 4-8, 17-19 — 164
Memphis 4-8 12-13 — 149
Charlotte 3-9 18-18 — 92
Each team has five series remaining (15 games) on their conference schedule.
In a change of format, only the top eight teams qualify for the American’s postseason tournament. The tournament is scheduled for May 20-24 at Clearwater, Fla.