UTSA averts a second straight loss and rallies to beat Rice

Posted on by

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners felt the sting of their worst loss of the season for two long days before they even showed up to the ball park Friday afternoon to play the Rice Owls.

They aren’t into excuses, and so there weren’t any for what happened Tuesday night against the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

Likewise, they viewed with level heads what was happening in the early innings against Rice at Roadrunner Field. They were getting beat — but only for only for awhile.

Taylor Smith (27) is congratulated at the plate by Antonio Valdez after Smith's home run in the seventh inning. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally past Rice 9-7 in Conference USA baseball on Friday, May 5, 2023, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Taylor Smith (27) is congratulated at the plate by Antonio Valdez after Smith’s seventh-inning home run. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh to rally past Rice 9-7 in Conference USA baseball. – Photo by Joe Alexander

In the end, the 22nd-ranked Roadrunners pulled it all together, rallied from an early four-run deficit and emerged with a 9-7 victory in the first game of a key three-game series in the Conference USA stretch drive.

“Obviously we got killed on Tuesday,” UTSA catcher Josh Killeen said of the 18-2 loss to the Bearkats. “It wasn’t a good feeling. But the big theme we hold onto as a team is, we believe in each other. We believe each player out there can do the job.

“I think that’s what we went back to. Just believing that the guy at the plate is a really good hitter and the guy on the mound is a really good pitcher, and we got good guys behind the pitchers who can defend. So, it’s just believing in each other and having faith that we are who we are.

“It’s just like, going back to early games during the season where we were really hot and jelling together. It’s just getting back to that kind of baseball and believing in each other.”

For UTSA, Ryan Beaird (4-1) pitched one scoreless inning to earn the victory. He fanned two, including the third out of the seventh with runners stranded at first and third base. All-American candidate Simon Miller, not to be outdone, fired two electrifying innings of shutout ball to earn his 10th save of the season. Retiring six straight, he didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out two. Rice’s Cristian Cienfuegos (2-1) took the loss.

UTSA reliever Ryan Beaird pitched a scoreless seventh inning. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally past Rice 9-7 in Conference USA baseball on Friday, May 5, 2023, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Reliever Ryan Beaird pitched a scoreless seventh inning and struck out two to earn the victory, which kept the Roadrunners a game and a half behind the first-place Dallas Baptist Patriots in the C-USA title race. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Offensively, multiple Roadrunners did their jobs when it counted. Both Taylor Smith and Antonio Valdez homered, and both Valdez and Caleb Hill had three hits apiece. Matt King produced two hits and three RBIs. For Rice, Jack Riedel had a three-hit game and freshman Ben Royo clubbed a three-run homer.

With the victory, UTSA stayed within a game and a half of the scorching-hot Dallas Baptist Patriots for the lead in the C-USA. In Dallas, the Patriots clobbered the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 16-5, for their 15th straight conference victory. DBU improved to 19-3, with UTSA, not quite as hot, sitting at 17-4.

Both will finish a series at home this weekend — Rice at UTSA and Middle Tennessee at Dallas Baptist — before the two will meet for three games next week (May 12-14) in San Antonio. After playing a final non-conference game on May 16 at Abilene Christian, UTSA closes out the C-USA regular season with a series on the road (May 18-20) at Louisiana Tech.

UTSA (34-12) needs five wins to tie and six to break the school’s single-season mark for victories in a season.

UTSA reliever Simon Miller and catcher Josh Killeen celebrate after the final out. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally past Rice 9-7 in Conference USA baseball on Friday, May 5, 2023, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA reliever Simon Miller and catcher Josh Killeen celebrate after the final out. Miller pitched two scoreless innings for his 10th save, lowering his earned run average to 1.06. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

Rice 17-28, 7-15
UTSA 34-12, 17-4

Coming up

Rice at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Rice at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.

C-USA standings

Dallas Baptist 19-3, 35-11
UTSA 17-4, 34-12
Charlotte 12-9, 23-22
Louisiana Tech 12-10, 23-24
Middle Tennessee 11-11, 22-22
FAU 11-11, 27-19
WKU 10-12, 25-21
Rice 7-15, 17-28
FIU 5-17, 18-27
UAB 5-17, 14-30

Digging out of a hole — twice

Twice on an extremely muggy Friday night in South Texas, UTSA seemed destined for defeat. The Rice Owls jumped all over UTSA starter Luke Malone for three runs in the first inning and then another in the second for a 4-0 lead. In response, the Roadrunners battled back with two in their own half of the second and two more in the third for a 4-4 tie.

Leading into the fifth inning, Malone seemed to have settled down. UTSA’s preseason all-conference pitcher had strung two scoreless innings together. His command was sound and his breaking pitch was hooking into the zone. Just as suddenly, Malone got into trouble in the fifth, allowing two baserunners before Owls freshman Ben Royo stepped to the plate. Royo hammered a ball over the left field wall to give the Owls a 7-4 advantage.

Caleb Hill scores in the seventh inning on a hit by Matt King. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally past Rice 9-7 in Conference USA baseball on Friday, May 5, 2023, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Caleb Hill scores in the seventh inning on a hit by Matt King. UTSA scored four runs in the seventh inning. Hill collected three hits, scored twice and had an RBI. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“There’s nothing to fault Luke for,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “You know, these other teams, the way we describe it, they practice hitting and they can hit. Luke’s always been a competitive overachiever. So, you’ve got to give the other team a little credit. I’m proud of (Luke) for sticking it out, really … He’s such a competitive kid. It’s wonderful to have him.”

It’s also a good thing to have veteran hitters who can turn it up a notch when adversity strikes. With Rice starter Parker Smith out of the game, the Roadrunners went to work against the Owls’ bullpen. In the seventh inning, they broke through with four runs on five hits. The big blows were a leadoff homer by Taylor Smith and a two-run single by Matt King against Justin Long.

In came Cristian Cienfuegos, who unraveled in short order, allowing Roadrunners to reach base twice on hit by pitches, sandwiched around a single by Josh Killeen. It all set the bases-loaded table for Isaiah Walker, who drew a walk on six pitches to force in the go-ahead run. UTSA’s 8-7 lead was its first of the day.

“We got some good hitters, some grown-up hitters,” Hallmark said. “We had some really, really tough at bats, where they take pitches that normally would get people out. But we take ’em and lay off tough pitches. That gets overlooked if you’re not a baseball person. You have to lay off the tough pitches and put yourself in a position to do damage.”

Antonio Valdez did just that in the eighth inning. The switch hitter, batting from the left side against Rice righthander Matthew Linskey, took the first pitch for a ball. fouled one off. Took another ball. Fouled off another pitch. Then on a fastball down the middle, he uncorked a big swing that resulted in a loud ringing sound, with the ball re-directed high and far toward the left field wall. It went out for a majestic, one-out solo homer and a 9-7 lead.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *