| Senior Aimee Murray hit her third and fourth homers of the season on Tuesday. |
SAN ANTONIO — Senior Aimee Murray had two home runs and five runs batted in and junior Janeille Nickels tossed a three-hitter to guide UTSA to a 9-1 pounding of St. John’s on Tuesday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
Murray launched three-run and two-run homers to give her four long balls on the season as she joined senior Jessica Rogers and freshman Rudi Cantu with two hits at the plate. Senior Catherine Garza hit a two-run home run for the second straight game as the Roadrunners (10-12) pounded out eight hits off a pair of Red Storm pitchers.
Nickels was solid in the circle, allowing one run on three hits and walking just two batters to run her record to 4-4 on the season. She carried a one-hitter into the fifth inning.
The Roadrunners jumped on the board quickly with three runs in the bottom of the first. Cantu led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Kourtney Jones. Rogers, who is tied for the Southland Conference career home run record with 55, was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. Murray then lined an offering from St. John’s starter Lisa Geer over the fence in right center field to put UTSA up 3-0.
Murray launched her second home run in the third inning, a towering shot to left center that plated Rogers, who had reached on a single up the middle.
UTSA scored four in the fourth to break the game open. Jones drew a leadoff walk and Rogers chopped a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield to chase Geer, who took the loss with six earned runs on six hits. Reliever Kim Lerch struck out her first two batters, but a passed ball and a wild pitch with freshman Krista Sitka at the plate allowed Jones to score and put Rogers at third with two down. Sitka came through with a clutch single to short right center to plate Rogers and scored on Garza’s blast to left field.
The Red Storm broke through for a run in the top of the fifth. Tiffany D’Alessandro and Bionka King reached on singles and Shauntaine Harris walked to load the bases with no outs. D’Alessandro scored on a sacrifice fly to center, but King was caught trying to advance to third. Nickels then induced a pop-up to first base to end the game via the eight-run rule.
UTSA now has won 11 of its past 12 home games and is 49-7 at Roadrunner Field since 2004. The Roadrunners also have won seven straight non-conference home contests dating back to a loss to Houston on March 10, 2004.
UTSA hosts No. 8 Texas at 6 p.m. on Thursday.