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COLLEGE STATION — After falling 3-2 to Tulsa in Sunday’s opener of the Aggie Classic, UTSA was two outs away from snapping No. 15 Texas A&M’s NCAA-leading 31-game home winning streak, but Taran Tyler’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh kept the streak alive in a 3-1 walk-off victory.
Seniors Ashley Kappler drove home two base runners and Caitlyn Ivy provided the day's other RBI for the Roadrunners (4-7), while the pitching staff allowed just four earned runs in 14.1 innings of work.
Sophomore Molly Fichtner singled in the top of the first against the host Aggies and moved to second after a walk to freshman Megan Low. Ivy then delivered a run-scoring single through the left side to give UTSA an early 1-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Alyssa Vordenbaum did not allow a hit until the fourth and gave up just three until the deciding seventh.
A fielder’s choice and double to center put runners on second and third to set up Tyler, who improved Texas A&M’s 2012 record to 8-2 with her round-tripper.
Vordenbaum (2-2) registered three strikeouts in 6.1 innings, while Lindsey Sisk (4-1) picked up the win after giving up a run on six hits.
The Roadrunners suffered another late-inning, one-run defeat to Tulsa (5-1) in their first contest of the day. This time, it went extra innings with the Golden Hurricane grabbing a 3-2 win in eight frames.
Kappler led off the bottom of the first with her first homer of the season for a quick 1-0 lead. The blast was UTSA’s first leadoff homer in the opening inning since Carrie Monroe did so against Nicholls on April 23, 2011.
The score styed at 1-0 until the top of the seventh, when Skylar Swanson tied the game with a long ball to left. Sophomore Haylee Staton retired the side following the blast, but the Golden Hurricane picked up a pair of runs in the eighth for a 3-1 lead.
With the international tie-break rule in effect, a sacrifice bunt moved Shelby Blanton from second to third and she scored on an infield single a batter later. Tulsa’s other run came around to score on a throwing error.
Kappler delivered a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame and a stolen base by freshman Geena Garcia put the tying run on third and the winning run on second for Fichtner, but Aimee Creger coaxed a fly out to center to end the game.
Staton (1-1) went the distance and allowed just one earned run in the loss.
Meanwhile, Creger (1-1) also hurled a complete game, allowing only one earned run with five strikeouts.
UTSA will be back in action next weekend at the Islander Classic in Corpus Christi. The Roadrunners will face North Dakota, Mississippi and Texas Southern at the three-day tournament that begins on Friday, Feb. 24.