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WACO — UTSA split a pair of games on Tuesday at the Baylor Spring Break Round Robin. The Roadrunners picked up a 6-5 victory in eight innings against North Dakota State before dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 15 Baylor.
Freshman Megan Low went a combined 4-for-6 at the plate with an RBI to lead UTSA (10-12), while fellow frosh Courtney Buchman and senior Caitlyn Ivy each went 3-for-6.
North Dakota State (14-11) jumped out to an early lead on Katie Tamayo’s run-scoring double in the opener. The Roadrunners responded with a pair of runs in the third when Ivy delivered a double to left with the bases loaded. The hit plated senior Ashley Kappler and sophomore Molly Fichtner, who led off the frame with consecutive singles.
The score stood there until the seventh when UTSA made it 5-1 with three runs with two outs.
Fichtner started the rally with a bloop double to right center that center fielder Alex Sobrero nearly caught, but the ball hit off the end of her glove to keep the inning alive. Low then singled up the middle to give the Birds a 3-1 lead. Ivy and junior Haylee Staton followed with walks to load the bases. Senior Laura Little then picked up an RBI with a walk and Buchman’s single plated Ivy. Pinch runner Morgan Luksa was thrown out at home on the play, but the Roadrunners took a four-run advantage to the final half-inning.
However, the Bison strung together four hits and tied the score with the help of two UTSA errors. Three of the four hits came after an out to start the stanza and a bases-loaded walk to Cristina Borek tied the game at five.
The contest went to extra innings, where freshman Geena Garcia plated the winning run with a sacrifice fly to right. The frame started with Buchman on second and she moved to third on a wild pitch before Garcia put UTSA ahead for good.
The ended with a great defensive play by the Roadrunners infield. With the tying run at third and one out, Kappler fielded a slow roller, fired home and Low applied the tag to Jenina Ortega for the second out. Staton (7-2) then retired Taylor Mortensen for her career-high seventh win of the season.
Krista Menke (6-6) lost in extra innings for the second time during the day, as Baylor took a 1-0 decision in the tournament's opening game.
Kayce Walker led off the second contest with a double and she later scored on a ground out to give the Lady Bears (18-5) a 1-0 lead. They went on to tack on runs in the fourth and fifth before a pair in the seventh put the game out of reach.
The Roadrunners scattered five hits against the duo of Courtney Repka and Liz Paul (5-2) were unable to scratch across a run.
Junior Alyssa Vordenbaum (2-5) allowed all five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and struck out a pair in a complete-game effort.
UTSA will be back in action this weekend when it travels to Lake Charles, La., to take on McNeese State (15-8, 0-0 SLC). The two-game series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday at Cowgirl Diamond.