SAN ANTONIO – The No. 25 UTSA baseball team was stumped by Texas State, 5-3, in a Battle of I-35 rematch on Tuesday night at Roadrunner Field.
QUICK HITS
- Braylon Owens earned his first start in his third appearance this season.
- Freshman Ruger Riojas continues to dazzle, turning in a relief outing of seven strikeouts and no runs in three innings pitched.
- Josh Killeen led the Roadrunners with a 2-for-4 outing with one run and one RBI.
- Antonio Valdez also had two hits with an RBI.
- Taylor Smith extended his reached base streak to 30 games, while Matt King extended his to 14 games.
- The Roadrunners fell to a 28-9 overall record, while Texas State improved to a 25-13 overall record.
- UTSA's home record fell to a still impressive 21-4 record.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
After the Roadrunners dominated Texas State in San Marcos, 11-2, earlier in the season, the Bobcats came into Tuesday night's game with a vengeance.
The first inning went scoreless, but the Bobcats struck first with a bases-loaded hit by pitch to catcher Peyton Lewis to give Texas State a 1-0 lead. Riojas sat down the last three batters with a pop out and two strikeouts.
Riojas then forced two 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth while picking up five more strikeouts, before ending his night with seven K's in three innings.
The Bobcats extended their lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the frame, the Roadrunners got on the board as Killeen came in to score from third on a balk.
Texas State responded in the top of the sixth with another pair of runs batted in. A single by Killeen in the bottom of the frame to score King cut UTSA's deficit to 5-2.
The Roadrunners added on another run in the seventh to cut their deficit to 5-3, thanks to a RBI single by Valdez.
On the mound, Daniel Garza kept the Bobcats off the board and allowed just four hits in the final three innings. The Roadrunners were unable to score any more as UTSA fell to Texas State, 5-3, on Tuesday night.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners head to the Sunshine State this weekend, facing FIU in Miami for a three-game conference series on Friday-Sunday.
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