| April 27, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930 Roadrunners look to unseat league leader Northwestern State this weekend in Natchitoches Complete Release | Live Stats (Saturday and Sunday)
Listen Live (Friday) SAN ANTONIO - Fresh off a 6-3 win at Texas A&M Tuesday night, the University of Texas at San Antonio baseball team, winners of seven of their last nine, will look to keep the momentum on their side this weekend at Northwestern State. Game one against the league-leading Demons is set for Friday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. UTSA Roadrunners (20-25, 11-7 SLC)
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Northwestern State Demons (32-14, 15-3 SLC)
April 29-May 1
Friday, April 29 - 6:30 p.m. • Brown-Stroud Field
Saturday, April 30 - 2:30 p.m. • Brown-Stroud Field
Sunday, May 1 - 1:00 p.m. • Brown-Stroud Field
First Pitch
• The Roadrunners travel to Natchitoches, La. this weekend for a three-game series with league-leading Northwestern State.
• UTSA enters the weekend winners of seven of its last nine.
• UTSA’s 6-3 at Texas A&M Tuesday night was the first win at College Station since the 2000 season.
• UTSA is 7-8 on the road this year and 4-3 in conference road games.
• The Roadrunners are hitting .298 in conference games.
Roadrunner Tidbits
UTSA enters the weekend in the midst of its best stretch in 2005, winning seven of the last nine games...UTSA is 19-12 since opening the year 1-13...The Roadrunners’ 6-3 win at Texas A&M on Tuesday was UTSA’s first win over a Big XII team since the 2003 season...Senior Sean Danielson is hitting.400 in conference games...Danielson’s 12-game hitting streak, the longest for any Roadrunner this year, was snapped at Texas A&M...Junior Ryan Crew leads UTSA now with a 10-game hitting streak...The Roadrunners rank seventh in the nation in triples per game with a school-record 23 three-sackers...Senior Chris Lewis moved into fifth place on the career home runs chart with his team-leading seventh round-tripper Tuesday at Texas A&M...Senior Aaron Rodriguez, Friday’s starter, is 3-0 in conference games with a team-best 3.95 ERA...sophomore Michael McKennon is 4-for-7 (.571) in the last two games...Josh Ruffin, Saturday’s starter, was named SLC co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday...UTSA is 6-3 against teams from Louisiana this year.
Crew Reaches Milestone, Chasing Record
Junior shortstop Ryan Crew posted four hits in the Southeastern Louisiana series last weekend, bringing his career hit total to an even 200. He added another hit on Tuesday at Texas A&M. Crew already ranks fourth on the UTSA career hits chart with 201 and is well within reach of the record of 249 held by Jeff Juarez. As a sophomore, he had 76 safeties to rank fifth on the single season chart and leads UTSA with 61 hits .
Scouting the Demons
Northwestern State is at the pinnacle of the Southland Conference right now with a 15-3 record and a four-game lead. The Demons are 32-14 overall and 15-3 in the SLC. They rank 35th in the latest NCBWA poll. Blake Jones (.382 avg., 6 HR) and Bobby Barbier (.350 avg., 4 HR) pace the Demons at the plate. Daniel Lonsberry (6-2, 2.82 ERA) leads a pitching staff that leads the Southland Conference in ERA.
Up Next
The Roadrunners travel to Waco, Texas for a mid-week match-up with the nationally-ranked Baylor Bears on Tuesday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m.
A Look at the Series
Northwestern State leads the all-time series 19-15 with UTSA claiming the last meeting, 4-3, in San Antonio last year. The Roadrunners have claimed four of the last seven meetings in the series. Since the teams began playing in 1993, UTSA has never been swept by the Demons in Natchitoches.
A&M Rewind
UTSA won for the first time at College Station since 2000 by taking a 6-3 decision over the host Aggies Tuesday night. After spotting the Aggies a 1-0 first-inning lead, the Roadrunners tallied a pair of scores in the second, fourth and sixth innings for a 6-2 lead. Stephen Holdren went 2-for-4 with a two-run double, while Michael McKennon had his second straight multi-hit night, going 2-for-4. Ryan Crew extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Steven Vasquez pitched seven innings and scattered nine hits for his second straight win.
Proud Father
UTSA Associate Head coach Jason Marshall, who coaches first base, did not attend the game Tuesday at his alma mater, Texas A&M. But, Marshall had a pretty valid reason. He was with his wife Ashleigh, who gave birth to the couple’s second child, Jackson Mark Marshall, that evening. The couple also has a one-year old son, Cooper Kelly.
Leading off
Senior Sean Danielson, UTSA’s leadoff batter, has proven to be the right man in that spot this year. He is hitting ,322 overall in his first year at UTSA since transferring from Kansas State. Danielson also boasts the longest hitting streak of any player this year at 12 games, which was snapped Tuesday at Texas A&M. In those 12 games, Danielson hit .467 (21-of-45). He also leads the squad with 12 stolen bases and has made eight assists from his center field position.
Motley Crew
Junior Ryan Crew continues to make an assault on the UTSA record books in just his third season. He now ranks fourth all-time with 201 career hits. He also ranks fifth now on the career doubles list with 39 and needs only two more to move as high as third. In RBIs, Crew now ranks 10th with 95 and needs just seven 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.
Ruffin Garners Pitcher of the Week Selection
UTSA sophomore Josh Ruffin, who’ll start Saturday’s 2 p.m. game, was selected as the Southland Conference co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Ruffin tossed his first complete game of the season in last Saturday’s 5-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana and flirted with a shutout until two outs in the ninth when the Lions plated three runs. He struck out four. For the week, Ruffin pitched 10.1 innings, and gave up no earned runs.
J.R. the Star
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 .329 and ranks second on the team with four homers and third with 25 RBIs. He already has posted 15 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.
The Green Light Is On
UTSA has been successful on the base paths this season with 44 stolen bases in 45 games. The Roadrunners are 44-of-58 (.431 pct.) overall. Senior Sean Danielson leads the way with 12, while junior J.R. Voyles has eight and Ryan Crew has seven. Ryan Saltzgaber 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 8-for-8 this season, making him 19-for-20 in his three-year Roadrunner career.
Gone, Long Gone
Senior Chris Lewis drilled his team-leading seventh home run of the year Tuesday and now has 23 in his two-year UTSA career to rank fifth all-time. Lewis, who has hit UTSA’s last three homers, led the SLC with 16 round-trippers in 2004.
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