· Game notes (.pdf)
SAN ANTONIO — UTSA looks to snap a five-game losing streak with a three-game non-conference series against Prairie View A&M this Friday-Saturday, April 6-7, at Roadrunner Field. First pitch in game one of a Friday doubleheader is set for 3 p.m., followed by a single game at noon Saturday.
UTSA Roadrunners (18-23) vs. Prairie View A&M Panthers (4-15)
Friday, April 6 • 3 p.m. (DH) | Saturday, April 7 • Noon
Roadrunner Field (300) • San Antonio, Texas
Live Audio: goUTSA.com
Live Stats: goUTSA.com
Series Record: first meeting
Tuning In: UTSA will provide free live stats and live audio for all three games through a Rowdy Zone subscription at goUTSA.com.
Base Hits
• UTSA has dropped five straight games and seven consecutive non-conference contests
• The Roadrunners and the Panthers are meeting for the first time
• UTSA last faced a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) on March 5, 2005, coming up with an 8-0 victory over Texas Southern in Houston
• The Roadrunners have won five of their last six home games
• UTSA, which has led the NCAA in home runs each of the last four seasons, has slugged 43 round-trippers in 41 games this season (1.05 per game)
• Senior Jessica Rogers is batting .581 in 13 home games
• Senior Aimee Murray is hitting a team-best .359 in 23 non-conference contests
UTSA/Prairie View A&M Series History: UTSA and Prairie View A&M have never met on the softball field. The Roadrunners own a 7-0 all-time record against current members of the SWAC, including a 6-0 mark against Prairie View A&M’s arch rival, Texas Southern.
Scouting The Panthers: Prairie View A&M improved to 4-15 overall and 3-8 in the SWAC with a doubleheader sweep of Grambling State on April 2. The Panthers are 0-4 against Southland Conference members this season, dropping twinbills to UTA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Nikki Lilly leads the offense with a .344 batting average and 12 stolen bases, while Amberly Fuller is hitting .302 with six doubles and 16 runs batted in. Brenda Sneed has 14 RBIs and the only home run of the season for Prairie View A&M. Analisa Gonzales is the top pitcher, boasting a 4-10 record, 5.11 earned run average and 57 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.
Week In Review: UTSA went 0-5 last week, dropping a twinbill at nationally-ranked Baylor on Wednesday before being swept by Texas State in San Marcos over the weekend. Aimee Murray and Jessica Rogers both batted .357 (5-for-14) with a home run during the week to lead the offense.
Tough Slate: UTSA has played a tough schedule in 2007, with seven games against teams ranked in the top 16 of this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Polls. The Roadrunners faced No. 3/2 Alabama in the CenturyTel Classic, No. 4/4 Texas A&M at the Aggie Classic, No. 13/11 Texas on March 8 and 22, No. 5/6 LSU on March 13 and No. 11/16 Baylor in a March 28 doubleheader.
No Place Like Home: UTSA has turned Roadrunner Field into a true home-field advantage over the past three-plus seasons. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 54-11 (.831) at home, including a 16-1 mark in 2005. UTSA has won 16 of its past 21 home games.
Rogers Rewriting Record Books: Senior Jessica Rogers broke the SLC career home runs record with her 56th in the 4-1 loss to No. 8 Texas on March 8, moving out of a tie atop the league list with former Roadrunner Christy Brownlee. She now has 13 this season and 64 career homers, which ranks ninth on the NCAA’s all-time list. The 2005 SLC Player of the Year also eclipsed the SLC career total bases mark of 428 set by Lori Tande (Louisiana-Monroe) from 1999-2002 with four in the Texas game and now has 483 for her career. Rogers, who set the conference single-season home run and RBI records with 23 and 64 in 2005, took down the league’s career RBI record of 147 with five in the Rutgers win on Feb. 16 and now has 176. In addition to those three career records, the South Grand Prairie High product has set school standards for hits (258) and extra-base hits (94) and ranks second with 144 runs and fourth with 679 at-bats. Her .380 career batting average is second all-time behind Amanda Michalsky’s .394. Rogers also broke the UTSA single-game record with 13 total bases and tied a single-game record with three home runs against Nicholls on March 24.
Making History: Junior right-hander Amanda Nikolenko tossed the eighth no-hitter in school history in a 10-0 victory over Rutgers on Feb. 16 at the Aggie Classic. The Ashland, Mo., native struck out five and allowed just two walks and a hit batter in becoming the fifth different Roadrunner to hold a team hitless in 16 seasons of softball.
Cantu Can Hit: Rudi Cantu, a true freshman from Alvin, has firmly entrenched herself near the top of the UTSA batting order. The former prep all-stater is batting .324 with 36 hits (third on the team) and a team-best five stolen bases. Although battling a minor injury, Cantu has heated up over the last month, batting a team-best .444 (16-for-36) with a pair of doubles since March 10.
Murray Moving Up: Senior Aimee Murray is moving up the UTSA career charts in several categories. The Cy-Fair High product has nine home runs this season, giving her 44 for third place on the career list. The three-time all-conference shortstop has 141 career RBIs, which is second all-time behind Rogers. Murray also ranks third with 131 runs, fourth with 282 assists, fifth with 81 extra-base hits, seventh with 35 doubles and seventh with 206 hits.
Going, Going, Gone: UTSA has made a name nationally with the success it has enjoyed hitting the long ball. Dating back to 2003, the Roadrunners have slugged 432 home runs in 261 games, an average of 1.66 per game. Last season, UTSA shattered its own NCAA record, hitting 105 round-trippers in 51 contests for a 2.06 average, eclipsing the 1.87 mark set in 2004 (101/54). The Roadrunners own three of the top six home run seasons in NCAA history — 105 (2006), 103 (2005), 101 (2004) — and set a conference record with 14 home runs in four games at the 2006 SLC Tournament. This season, UTSA has 43 long balls in 41 games (1.05).
SLC Supremacy: UTSA is the winningest program in Southland Conference history, owning a 244-151 (.618) all-time record in conference games. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 75-22 (.773) in league play, including a 12-6 mark this season. UTSA has won three consecutive SLC regular season crowns and is 10-2 in SLC Tournament games over the last three years, winning two-of-three titles (2004, 2006).
A New Era: Lori Cook is in her second year as head coach after guiding the Roadrunners to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2006. UTSA was 37-14 overall, won its third consecutive SLC regular season title with a 22-5 mark, won the SLC Tournament for the second time in three years and made its second NCAA Tournament appearance. Cook’s career record is 55-37 (.598).
Another Honor For Rogers: Jessica Rogers added another award to her resumé this week as she was named one of 20 national candidates for the 2007 Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award. Candidates were selected based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete. While on-the-field performance during their collegiate softball careers is a factor in determining candidates and the eventual winner, their personal character and off-the-field achievements in the classroom and community are major areas of focus. The award was conceived by famed sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. A national media committee will select 10 finalists in April with the winner announced during the week of May 28 at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Up Next: UTSA stays home to host Northwestern State in a three-game conference series next Saturday-Sunday, April 14-15.
