| Feb. 10, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners host Fastpitch Express College Classic Friday-Sunday Complete Release | Live Stats (all games) Fastpitch Express College Classic home
SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA softball team hosts the Fastpitch Express College Classic this Friday-Sunday at Roadrunner Softball Field. The Roadrunners (0-5) welcome Centenary (1-6), North Texas (0-1), Texas-El Paso (0-7) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-0) to town for the three-day tournament. Fastpitch Express College Classic
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 11 -13
Roadrunner Field - San Antonio, Texas Friday, Feb. 11
9:30 a.m. - Centenary vs. North Texas
12 p.m. - Texas-El Paso vs. Texas-San Antonio
2:30 p.m. - Texas-San Antonio vs. Centenary
Saturday, Feb. 12
9 a.m. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Texas-El Paso
11:15 a.m. - Centenary vs. Texas-El Paso
1:30 p.m. - Centenary vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
3:45 p.m. - North Texas vs. Texas-San Antonio
Sunday, Feb. 13
10 a.m. - Texas-El Paso vs. North Texas
12:30 p.m. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. North Texas
3 p.m. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Texas-San Antonio Quick Hits
• Three of the five teams in the Fastpitch Express College Classic — UTSA, Centenary and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — were NCAA Tournament qualifiers last year.
• UTSA owns an all-time winning record against Centenary (3-1) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-6) and has yet to play North Texas and UTEP, both second-year programs.
• The Roadrunners are 6-8 all-time in Fastpitch Express Classic games.
UTSA vs. Fastpitch Express Opponents Series History
vs. Centenary: UTSA leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: March 28, 2003 • Centenary W, 10-6 (San Antonio)
vs. North Texas: never met
vs. Texas-El Paso: never met
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: UTSA leads, 10-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 7, 2004 • TAMU-CC W, 3-2 (San Marcos)
Fastpitch Express 101:
This will be the fourth year of the Fastpitch Express College Classic and the first on UTSA’s campus. In 2002, the Roadrunners posted a 1-4 record and followed that with a 2-3 mark in 2003. Last year, UTSA went 3-1 with victories over Kentucky (6-3), Missouri-Kansas City (9-1) and Colorado State (4-2) before losing to tournament champion Kansas, 7-3. UTSA is 6-8 all-time in Fastpitch Express College Classic games.
Last Time Out:
UTSA dropped a pair of one-run games in a doubleheader at No. 23 Texas A&M on Wednesday in College Station. In game one, senior Jennifer Davis hit her second home run of the season and drove in two runs and junior Jessica Rogers collected three hits, but the Aggies held off a late UTSA rally for a 6-5 win. In the nightcap, A&M pitcher Amanda Scarborough hurled a complete-game, four-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory.
Going, Going, Gone:
Under seventh-year head coach Corrie Hill, UTSA has emerged as one of the top power-hitting programs in the country. The Roadrunners have led the NCAA in home runs per game each of the past two seasons, hitting 1.45 per game (80/55 games) in 2003 and an NCAA-record 1.87 (101/54 games) last year. This year, UTSA has hit five home runs through the first five games.
Hot Bats:
The senior duo of Krystal Gibson and Jennifer Davis has displayed the hot bat through the first five games of the season. Gibson has five hits, including two doubles and a home run, and leads the team in slugging percentage *.833) and on-base percentage (.588). Davis has a team-best two home runs and six total hits on the season. Davis, who is one shy of her long ball total from 2004, also boasts a .750 slugging percentage and a team-high three RBI.
Tough Slate:
The 2005 schedule is one of the program’s toughest in recent memory. UTSA opened with a three-game set at Arizona State, which received 26 votes in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll, and then played at Texas A&M, ranked No. 23 in the Feb. 1 edition of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Roadrunners also have two games scheduled with No. 15/4 Texas and No. 18/22 Nebraska this season.
You Do The Math:
UTSA welcomes back 385 of the 452 hits (85 percent), 269 of the 329 runs (82 percent), 251 of the 310 runs batted in (81 percent) and 79 of the 101 long balls (78 percent) recorded in 2004.
Preseason Polls:
UTSA is the favorite to win the Southland Conference crown again in 2005 in both the head coaches and sports information directors preseason polls. The Roadrunners received all but one first-place vote in both polls. Sam Houston State was the runner-up pick in the coaches poll, while Texas State was the second choice by the SIDs.
All-SLC Accolades:
Seven Roadrunners were named to the 2005 Preseason All-SLC Team, including five on the first team. Seniors Krystal Gibson (1B) and Jennifer Davis (OF), junior Jessica Rogers (3B) and sophomores Aimee Murray (SS) and Ursula Mares (P) all were voted to the first squad, while juniors Amanda Horton (OF) and Jessica Els (C) made the second team.
Within Reach:
Head coach Corrie Hill needs just three wins to tie Chickie Mason for the most victories in UTSA history with 182. Hill, who is in her seventh season at the helm, owns a 179-162-1 mark in San Antonio, while Mason posted a 182-167-1 ledger during the first seven seasons of Roadrunner softball.
Head Coach Corrie Hill:
Entering her seventh season at the helm of the UTSA softball program, Corrie Hill has emerged as one of the top offensive minds in fastpitch softball today and has turned the Roadrunners into one of the top programs in the region. In six years in San Antonio, Hill has tutored one All-American in Amanda Michalsky, seven all-region performers and 36 all-conference players, including 12 first-teamers. Hill guided UTSA to its first Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2004, clinching the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth in the process. She was voted the SLC Coach of the Year as the Roadrunners racked up 37 wins and a 20-6 league mark. She now has the distinction of being the only SLC coach to win a league crown as a player (Texas-Arlington in 1989) and coach. UTSA also has taken over as the winningest program in conference history with a .583 winning percentage (189-135). Hill, who needs just three wins to become the school’s all-time winningest coach, has averaged 30 wins per season in her six years at UTSA and needs just 21 victories to reach 200 with the Roadrunners.
Up Next:
The Roadrunners travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to compete in the Troy Cox Classic hosted by New Mexico State on Feb. 18-20.
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