? Box score
VICTORIA ? Houston took advantage of a 20 mile-per-hour win blowing out to left field by hitting three home runs and posted a 5-2 victory against UTSA on Tuesday night at the UH-Victoria Rosebud Classic.
The Roadrunners dropped their third game in a row and saw their overall record fall to 24-18. Meanwhile, the Cougars won their fourth straight and improved to 23-17 on the season.
Junior Zach Etheredge’s sacrifice fly in the second gave the Roadrunners an early 1-0 advantage, but the Cougars responded with a pair of runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the frame take the lead.
UTSA tied the game in the fourth when senior Ryan Saltzgaber brought home redshirt freshman Tim Palincsar with a two-out single to center, but Houston recaptured the lead with two down in the bottom of the inning when Bryan Pounds launched his second homer of the year to left center.
Back-to-back home runs by Luis Flores and Zak Presley to lead off the sixth gave the Cougars a 5-2 lead and chased UTSA starter Ryan Proudfoot from the contest.
UH left-handed starter Donnie Joseph (1-1) allowed just two runs on four hits in a career-high six innings of work and collected the first win of his career. Barry Laird held the Roadrunners scoreless the final 1.2 innings for his second save of the season.
Junior Trent Lockwood led the UTSA offense by going 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored. Saltzgaber added a pair of singles and an RBI.
Proudfoot (3-2) allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out six in five-plus innings. Junior Mark Ruffin, senior Josh Blakley and junior J.T. Mackey held the Cougars scoreless the final three innings.
It was the first college baseball game played in Victoria since Houston hosted Oklahoma on March 17, 1986.
UTSA returns to Southland Conference play on Friday night when it opens a three-game series at Sam Houston State. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
