Baseball

Seven-run rally leads UTSA past Texas State, 8-7, in opening round of Southland Conference Tournament

 

May 25, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930

Seven-run rally leads UTSA past Texas State, 8-7, in opening round of Southland Conference Tournament

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Trailing 7-1 heading into the seventh inning Wednesday against third-seeded Texas State in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament, the University of Texas at San Antonio baseball team, seeded fourth, donned the rally caps and got the bats going as the Roadrunners scored seven runs in the final three innings to rally past the Bobcats, 8-7 at Brown-Stroud Field.

Down 7-5 in the top of the ninth, the Roadrunners got clutch hitting, including a two-run home run by junior second baseman J.R. Voyles to tie the game and a solo home run by junior shortstop Ryan Crew to take a one-run lead it never relinquished.

The win, which moved UTSA's record to 24-32, allowed  the Roadrunners to move into the winners bracket of the BellSouth SLC Tournament as UTSA will take on second-seeded Lamar tomorrow at 7 p.m. Texas State fell to 32-25 and will battle surprise winner sixth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana, which beat top seed Northwestern State 3-0 in the late game Wednesday, at 3 p.m.

UTSA, which ended up with 15 hits on the night, had just six heading into the seventh inning but scored a run on a hit in the seventh and pounded four hits for three runs in the eighth before rapping five hits in the deciding ninth inning. Crew's game-clinching homer, his fourth of the year, capped off a superb day at the plate as he went 4-for-5.

Voyles, whose long ball was his fifth of the year to rank second on the team, went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while seniors Sean Danielson and Stephen Holdren both had two hits as well as the top four Roadrunner batters combined to go 11-for-20 with five runs.

After the ninth inning heroics, junior Jason Vecchio came on and recorded the final three outs in the bottom of the ninth for his sixth save of the year and his career, which moved him into a tie four fourth place in career saves at UTSA.

Sophomore Josh Ruffin came on in the third inning for troubled starter Aaron Rodriguez, who was chased after allowing five runs in just 2.1 innings. Ruffin tossed the next 5.2 innings and held the Bobcats at bay with just four hits surrendered and a season high six strikeouts and no walks. Bobcat reliever Scott Moore suffered his second loss of the season against the Roadrunners and fell to 4-6 overall.

In the ninth inning, Danielson smacked a one-out single to left center to start the rally before the Voyles' homer, which cleared the left field wall by several feet. Crew then drilled a 1-2 breaking ball over the left field wall to put UTSA in the lead.

The Roadrunners got three runs in the eighth after trailing 7-2. Voyles opened the frame with a single up the middle and moved to second on Crew's single. Holdren grounded into a double play, moving Voyles to third. Senior Chris Lewis walked, and junior Lee Todesco then banged a long double off the wall in centerfield to score Voyles. After the Bobcats brought Moore in, sophomore Michael McKennon greeted him with a single up the middle to score Todesco and Lewis and make it 7-5.

In the seventh, the Roadrunners got one run as Todesco was hit by a pitch and scored as Eric Moreno hit a pinch hit double to left field.

The Bobcats chased Rodriguez after scoring five runs in the first inning off a two-run and a three-run homer, but Ruffin entered and allowed just two runs over the next five innings. Texas State starter Bobby Sawicki tossed the first 7.2 innings and struck out five.

The Roadrunners dropped two of the three games to Lamar this year. UTSA right-hander Steven Vasquez is slated to start against Cardinal leftie Derrick Gordon.

-UTSA-