SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team took down the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by 4-2 on Tuesday night at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio.
QUICK HITS
· Matt King and Andrew Stucky led the team with two hits apiece.
· Ryan Beaird (1-0) earned the win, striking out five and keeping the Islanders scoreless in three innings.
· Ruger Riojas picked up his sixth save of the season, striking out two in the final 1.2 scoreless frames.
· UTSA improved to a 22-15 overall record, while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to an 17-24 overall record.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The first two frames went scoreless as starting pitcher Ryan Ward forced the Islanders to go down in order. The Roadrunners finally broke open the score with a three-run bottom of the third inning. The bats got going early with a couple of singles and a walk to load the bases. Next, UTSA took advantage of an error by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as Caleb Hill got on base and Ty Tilson came in to score the first run.
Olivo followed that with a single to bring home Mason Lytle from third and advance Hill to third. With runners on the corners and two outs, UTSA called for the double steal play. Olivo stole second while Hill stole home to put the Roadrunners up by 3-0.
The fourth and fifth inning saw no score change. Beaird took over on the mound in the fourth and struck out the side in order. In the fifth frame, he allowed a couple baserunners but left them stranded.
The Roadrunners added another run to their advantage in the bottom of the sixth. Two runners boarded the base paths on a single and walk to start the inning. Then, Diego Diaz made a pinch-hit appearance and delivered an RBI single to extend UTSA’s lead to 4-0.
Braylon Owens came in to pitch in the seventh and struck out the side to keep the Islanders scoreless. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got a couple runs on the board in the top of the eighth to cut UTSA’s lead to 4-2.
Coming in to stop the damage, Riojas struck out the final two batters in the top of the eighth. Riojas closed out the game with another scoreless frame, securing the 4-2 win for UTSA over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners host a three-game conference series against UAB this Friday through Sunday for Fiesta Weekend at Roadrunner Field. The series will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, before Saturday’s first pitch of 2 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale at 12 p.m.
-UTSA-