| April 1, 2004
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907
UTSA ties NCAA single-game home run record twice in doubleheader crushing of Texas Southern Game 1: UTSA 18, TSU 0 Game 2: UTSA 19, TSU 0
SAN ANTONIO - UTSA tied the NCAA single-game home run record of eight twice and freshman Ursula Mares pitched her first career no-hitter in game one as the Roadrunners crushed Texas Southern, 18-0 and 19-0, Thursday afternoon at Roadrunner Field. UTSA won its seventh straight game to improve to 22-14 on the season.
The Roadrunner slugged 16 total homers Thursday, eight in each game to tie Interstate 35 rival Texas State's NCAA record set in 2002 against Stephen F. Austin. Senior Christy Brownlee launched four total long balls on the afternoon, two in each game, to increase her Southland Conference-leading season total to 18 and her UTSA career record to 51.
Sophomore Jessica Rogers added three homers, while junior Krystal Gibson and sophomore Stacey Gillespie chipped in with two apiece.
In the circle in game one, Mares worked five complete innings in the no-hitter, striking out 10 of 16 batters faced, one more than the minimum. She improved to 14-9 on the season with the victory.
Mares received plenty of offense from the Roadrunner bats as UTSA scored 18 runs on 18 hits, including the record-tying eight homers. Brownlee and Rogers hit two apiece, while freshman Aimee Murray launched her first career grand slam.
UTSA wasted no time in getting on the board, scoring 13 runs in the first three innings.
Rogers led off the first with a solo shot to left field. Sophomore Jessica Els followed with a double down the left-field line, setting up a two-run homer for Brownlee to put UTSA up 3-0 after one.
The second inning began much like the first as Rogers again led off the frame with a solo homer to left. Els doubled, this time to center, and Brownlee stroked her second two-run homer of the game to put the Roadrunners up 6-0.
UTSA was not done scoring in the second, though, as four more runs came across. Murray doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double down the left-field line by sophomore Amanda Horton. Junior Jennifer Davis reached on a fielder's choice and both scored on a double to center by senior Tammy Nelson. Nelson stole third and scored on a throwing error to push the UTSA lead to 10-0.
The Roadrunners added three more runs in the third and five in the fourth. In the third, Brownlee led off with a double and scored on a pinch-hit home run by freshman Ashley Long, her first career hit. The next batter, freshman Catherine Garza followed suit by launching another pinch-hit homer to center to up the lead to 13-0.
In the fourth, Murray sent her first career grand slam over the center-field fence that plated Rogers, Brownlee, who walked, and Ellison, who singled. That pushed the UTSA lead to 17-0 and the home run count to seven.
Junior Krystal Gibson provided the NCAA record-tying long ball, a solo shot to right field, that made the final tally 18-0 Roadrunners.
Game two was more of the same for the Roadrunners at the plate.
UTSA struck for three in the bottom of the first. Rogers again led off with a solo homer to left, giving her 13 for the season. Gibson homered to center, plating Els, who had singled to center to give UTSA a 3-0 lead.
Nelson singled and scored on a single by Gillespie to start the second. Gillespie later scored on an error to make it 5-0 UTSA after two.
The Roadrunners broke it open in the third, plating seven runs on six hits, including four homers. Horton hit a three-run shot to center, Gillespie lost one to left center, Els launched one to center and Brownlee punched one to left center to put UTSA up 12-0.
UTSA added seven more runs in the fourth inning. Nelson lined a single to right that got away from the fielder, allowing Horton, Guevara and Nelson to score. Gillespie followed with her second homer of the day and Brownlee tied the NCAA record again with a three-run bomb to left that scored Els and Rogers, who both reached on singles up the middle.
Freshman Stevi Simpson was brilliant in the circle, tossing a complete-game shutout to improve to 8-5 on the year.
Besides improving her own career home run record, Brownlee also broke the UTSA career record for runs scored with six today, giving her 140 in passing former All-American Amanda Michalsky's 135. She also broke Michalsky's career extra-base hits record with five today, giving her 84 for her career.
UTSA stays home to host Stephen F. Austin in a three-game series this weekend at Roadrunner Field. First pitch for a doubleheader on Saturday is set for 11 a.m., followed by a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Non-Conference Softball
Game 1: UTSA 18, Texas Southern 0
TSU000 00 - 0 0 1
UTSA373 5x - 18 18 1
Lemon and Weirich. Mares and Els, Ellison (4). WP - Mares (13-9). LP - Lemon. Save - none. HR - Rogers 2 (12); Brownlee 2 (16); Murray (4); Gibson (8); Long (1); Garza (2). 2B - Els 2 (4); Brownlee (5); Murray (7); Nelson (5).
Game 2: UTSA 19, Texas Southern 0
TSU000 00 - 0 3 5
UTSA327 7x - 19 17 0
Freeman and Weirich. Simpson and Els. WP - Simpson (8-5). LP - Freeman. Save - none. HR - Rogers (13; Els (5); Brownlee 2 (18); Gibson (9); Horton (8); Gillespie 2 (2).
Records: UTSA 22-14. Texas Southern 6-20.
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