| Trent Lockwood gave UTSA an early 2-0 lead with his 14th homer of the season (by Hardy Meredith, SFA Athletics). |
NATCHITOCHES, La. ? No. 1 seed UTSA scored two runs in the seventh inning and held on for a 4-2 victory against No. 6 Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday in the first game of the 2007 Southland Conference Tournament.
The Roadrunners, who battled through a two-hour and 54-minute rain delay, won for the fifth time in their last six games and improved to 35-20 overall. It also improved their tournament record in Natchitoches to a perfect 8-0. The Lumberjacks, playing their first SLC Tournament game in school history, dropped to 30-27.
"This was a really big win for us," head coach Sherman Corbett said after the victory. "Not only were we able to move into the winner's bracket, but we also battled through a long, extensive rain delay after we had grabbed the momentum early on. We were a little flat after the delay, but our guys were able to come through offensively. We got great buntsfrom Ryan Saltzgaber and Zach Etheredge in the seventh inning and Josh Blakley did an outstanding job of coming in and throwing 3.1 scoreless innings. Hopefully, we can carry today's win into tomorrow's game."
With the game tied at two entering the bottom of the seventh, junior Trent Lockwood led off the frame with a single up the middle and senior Ryan Saltzgaber then legged out a bunt single in front of the plate.
That brought junior Zach Etheredge to the dish and he dropped a sacrifice bunt down the third-base line, but Chris Smith threw wide of first base and Lockwood came home with the go-ahead run. Senior Mitch Ponza took the next pitch from Heath Konesheck into center field and that brought Saltzgaber home with an insurance tally.
Stephen F. Austin knotted the game with single runs in both the fifth and sixth off UTSA starter Josh Ruffin.
Senior Josh Blakley (7-0), who relieved Ruffin with two down in the sixth, tossed 3.1 scoreless innings to take over the team lead in victories. Ruffin allowed a pair of runs (one earned) on five hits in 5.2 frames. The pair combined to hold SLC Player of the Year Steven Hill (.390, 24 HRs, 73 RBIs) hitless in four at bats.
| The Roadrunners endured a two-hour and 54-minute rain delay that began in the bottom of the fourth inning (by Hardy Meredith, SFA Athletics). |
Konesheck (0-6) came in after the rain delay and promptly retired the first nine hitters he faced. However, his luck ran out in the seventh and he was tagged with the loss. The southpaw gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in three-plus innings.
Lockwood got the Roadrunners on the board in the first when he clubbed a two-out, two-run homer ? his 14th of the season (No. 4 on UTSA’s single-season list) ? to right center. The SLC Newcomer of the Year finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
UTSA continues play at 3 p.m. on Thursday against I-35 rival Texas State (35-22), which lost to Sam Houston State, 2-0, late Wednesday night. Right-hander Bradley Chovanec (3-4, 5.24 ERA) will get the nod for the Roadrunners. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.