| April 18, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930 Mid-week games at Texas-Pan American on the horizon for UTSA Complete Release | Live Stats (click on Gametracker link)
Listen Live (Tuesday) SAN ANTONIO - The University of Texas at San Antonio baseball team travels to the Rio Grande Valley for a pair of mid-week games at Texas-Pan American. Game one is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 with the second game scheduled for 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 20. UTSA Roadrunners (15-24)
at
Texas-Pan American Broncs (12-28)
April 19-20
Tuesday, April 19 - 7:00 p.m. • Edinburg Baseball Stadium
Wednesday, April 20 - 2:00 p.m. • Edinburg Baseball Stadium
First Pitch
• The Roadrunners hit the road to the Rio Grande Valley for a pair of mid-week games at Texas-Pan American.
• UTSA is 2-1 against the Broncs this year, with two victories in San Antonio.
• The Roadrunners are coming off a season high 16-run outburst Sunday in a win over Texas-Arlington.
• The Roadrunners are 4-8 on the road this year and have dropped three consecutive road contests.
• UTSA has won nine of the ten games at UTPA in the Sherman Corbett era (2001-).
Roadrunner Tidbits
UTSA has scored 31 runs in its last three games, including a season high 16 on Sunday...The Roadrunners are just one game out of a tie for second place in the Southland Conference at 9-6...Junior Ryan Crew leads the hitters with a .345 average...He is hitting .846 with a runner at third and less than two outs...Senior Stephen Holdren has struck out only seven times in 88 at-bats...Against SLC opponents, the Roadrunners rank third in the conference, hitting .302...J.R. Voyles ranks fifth in the conference in batting average at .400...Senior Aaron Rodriguez is one of only three pitchers in the league to sport a perfect record in SLC decisions...Opponents are hitting just .249 against sophomore right-hander Josh Ruffin this year...Sophomore Steven Vasquez’s start on Tuesday will be just his second this year after returning from off-season injuries...Crew needs just eight more hits to move to fourth in career hits at UTSA.
UTSA Sets School Triples Record
Stephen Holdren’s triple in the first inning last Friday against Texas-Arlington was the team’s 21st of the year, breaking the school single season record. As of last week’s NCAA statistics, the Roadrunners ranked ninth in the nation in triples per game. Every player in the Roadrunners’ starting nine has at least one triple this season, led by sophomore Ryan Saltzgaber’s four three-baggers. Tha ranks fourth all-time in single season triples as Mickey Perez’s seven in 1995 is the school standard.
Scouting the Broncs
Texas-Pan American is 12-28 entering this week. The Broncs are paced by by Louie Alamia with a .353 average and seven doubles. Zach Gordon (.303) is the only other player above .300 hitting-wise as the Broncs post a .249 team batting average. Aaron Guerra leads the pitching staff with a 5-2 record and a 4.70 ERA. While the Broncs have struggled away from Edinburg at 1-16, they are 11-12 at home.
Up Next
The Roadrunners return to San Antonio to host Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game SLC series this weekend.
A Look at the Series
UTSA leads the series 38-25, including going 2-1 so far against the Broncs in 2005. Since 2001, the Roadrunners have lost only one time in Edinburg. These teams have also played each other at least four times every season since 1995. Earlier this season, UTPA knocked off UTSA 12-9 in the final game of the Al Ogletree Classic on March 9. UTSA returned the favor with two victories in San Antonio (6-5 and 14-3) on March 29-30.
Last Time on the Field
UTSA won two of three games from Texas-Arlington for the first time 1999. The Roadrunners dealt the Mavericks a 12-4 setback on Friday before dropping a 9-3 decision on Saturday. UTSA came back with a vengeance for a 16-10 rout on Sunday, including 19 hits and three home runs.
Busting out the Big Sticks
UTSA broke out the big bats for Sunday’s contest against Texas-Arlington. The Roadrunner pounded out 19 hits, second highest total of the year, and scored a season high 16 runs, including eight in the sixth inning. The Roadrunners also hit three home runs in the game for the first time this season. The Roadrunners are 9-4 on the year when they register 11-15 hits in a game and are 9-3 when they score 11-15 runs
He’s Back
Sophomore Steven Vasquez is back at full strength after a rough off-season where he was involved in an auto accident and sustained cervical injuries. He then broke his hand right before he year and missed the first 30 games. He made his first appearance on April 5th against Angelo State and made his first start on April 13 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Last year, Vasquez was 5-5 and was a weekend starter for the Roadrunners.
His Best Year Yet
Junior J.R. Voyles is having a breakout year for UTSA and ranks sixth in the conference in batting against conference opponents. Overall, Voyles is hitting .331 and ranks second on the team with four homers and 24 RBIs. He already has posted 14 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games in 2005. Coming into the season, Voyles was a lifetime .253 hitter with just five career home runs.
Crew Cuts
Junior Ryan Crew is climbing up the UTSA stat charts in just his third season. Crew now ranks seventh all-time with 190 career hits. He also ranks fifth now on the career doubles list with 37 and needs only four more to move as high as third. In RBIs, Crew now ranks 10th with 93 and needs just nine to move to ninth. In home runs, his total of 17 ranks him tied for eighth all-time, while his total of seven triples puts him fourth on that stat chart.
Slamming the Door
After beginning the year as a regular starter, junior Jason Vecchio has found a spot as the Roadrunners’ closer and now has five saves this season to rank fifth in career saves. In 26 innings, the hard-throwing rightie has recorded 22 strikeouts.
Thievery
UTSA has been successful on the base paths this season with 35 stolen bases in 39 games. The Roadrunners are 35-of-47 overall. Senior Sean Danielson leads the way with 11, while junior Ryan Crew has seven and J.R. Voyles has five. In fact, Voyles has been thrown out only once in his career during his freshman year. In 2002, he was 3-for-4. In 2004, he went 8-for-8, and he is 5-for-5 this season, making him 16-for-17 in his three-year
Roadrunner career.
Super Southpaw
Senior pitcher Aaron Rodriguez is beginning to make a name for himself this year in the Southland Conference. He went eight innings last Friday to pick up his fifth win of the year and is now a perfect 3-0 against Southland teams. Overall, Rodriguez is 5-3 and ranks second on the team with a 4.46 ERA. He also ranks sixth all-time with 162 career strikeouts and needs just 12 to move to fifth.
Power Behind the Dish
UTSA catcher Chris Lewis, a converted outfielder, is hitting .268 this year with 34 hits. Amazingly, 20 of his 34 safeties have been extra-base hits, including a team-leading 13 doubles and five home runs. In just two years, Lewis has 46 extra-base knocks out of 91 total hits, or more than 50 percent.
Set for a While
With six underclassmen in the regular starting lineup, head coach Sherman Corbett has to be excited about the possibilities for next season. Five of the Roadrunners’ top six hitters are underclassmen, while the pitching staff will only lose one senior to eligibility.
Homegrown Talent
Head coach Sherman Corbett doesn’t have to go far to find the talent to fill the Roadrunners’ roster. Thirty-one (31) of the 33 players on the roster hail from right here in Texas. Only redshirt freshman Drew Rogers (Bradenton, Fla.) and senior transfer Stephen Holdren (Overland Park, Kan.) don’t call Texas home.
Roadrunner Rankings
A look at where UTSA players and team rank in this week’s conference stats: Team batting (5th); Team pitching (9th); Team fielding (8th); Individuals: Triples, Ryan Saltzgaber (3rd), Ryan Crew (6th); Stolen bases, Sean Danielson (T-4th); Doubles, Chris Lewis (T-3rd); Saves, Jason Vecchio (T-3rd); Innings, Aaron Rodriguez (2nd); Appearances, Blake Brannon (2nd).
Roadrunners Picked Sixth
UTSA has been tabbed for a sixth place finish in the Southland Conference this year, according the coaches and SID polls taken before the year began. Defending champion Lamar is again picked to finish number one. The Roadrunners are making liars out of the predictors so far as they are in fourth place with 12 games left. -UTSA-
|
