? Diamond notes (.pdf)
Games 46-48 ? May 4-6 ? Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-24, 8-13)
6/2/1 p.m. ? Roadrunner Field ? San Antonio, Texas
UTSA Returns Home With Two-Game Lead In SLC West: UTSA (27-18, 17-4) returns to the friendly confines of Roadrunner Field for the first time since April 18 when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in three-game Southland Conference series this weekend. Friday’s opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday’s contests are slated for 2 and 1 p.m. starts, respectively. The Roadrunners, coming off last weekend’s three-game sweep at Sam Houston State, have won 10 of their last 11 home contests dating back to March 23.
Scouting The Islanders: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, in its first season in the Southland Conference, has dropped five consecutive games and enters this weekend’s series at 23-24 overall and 8-13 in league play. The Roadrunners hold a slim 12-11 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2002. The Islanders have won seven of the last 10 matchups, but UTSA has won two in a row after a doubleheader sweep on May 2 a year ago.
Getting Off On The Right Foot: UTSA’s success this season can be directly attributed to its solid 10-1 record in series openers. Since dropping their first lid-lifter of the year to Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2, Feb. 16), the Roadrunners have reeled off 10 consecutive series-opening victories, including seven in a row in SLC play.
Bring Out The Brooms: The Roadrunners opened the SLC campaign with consecutive sweeps of McNeese State, Central Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana and continued that trend last weekend at Sam Houston State. The season-opening sweeps marked the first time the program’s 16-year history that UTSA swept back-to-back-to-back three-game series against league opponents. The Roadrunners now have swept SLC foes 17 times in school annals, 11 of which have come under the direction of head coach Sherman Corbett.
UTSA Dominating SLC Series Finales: The Roadrunners, off to a program-best 17-4 start in Southland Conference play (previous: 15-6 in 2006), have built that impressive record on the strength of six victories in series finales this season. UTSA ? which has scored in double figures in nine of its 21 league games (including five in a row from March 17-25), outscored the opposition by 80 runs (168-88) and is averaging eight runs per contest ? has three run-rule triumphs in series finales this year. The Roadrunners defeated McNeese State, 16-2 (eight innings), on March 18; Central Arkansas, 14-1 (seven), on March 25; and Texas-Arlington, 12-1 (seven), on April 7.
Perfect Start Best Ever: UTSA began the 2007 Southland Conference season a perfect 10-0, which was its best SLC start in school history and tied for the second-best in league history. Lamar started 14-0 in 1984, while Texas-Arlington was 10-0 a year ago. UTSA’s previous best start was 4-0 in both 1994 and ’96.
UTSA Offense Among NCAA Leaders: Through games of April 29, the Roadrunners currently rank among the top 50 national leaders in three offensive categories: triples per game (10th/0.47), home runs per contest (37th/0.96) and slugging percentage (45th/.462).
You Dropped A Bomb On Me: Thirty-eight of UTSA’s 43 home runs (88.4 pct.) this season have been hit during the past 28 contests. Leading the long ball parade are senior Ryan Saltzgaber and junior Zach Etheredge, both of whom have slugged all eight of their homers this year during that time. Junior Trent Lockwood and sophomore James Keithley both have launched five bombs, while senior Mitch Ponza and sophomore Michael Rockett each have left the yards four times. Lockwood, Rockett and Saltzgaber have grand slams among their homers. Also on the board is redshirt freshman Tim Palincsar ? who has three long balls ? and junior Josh Wilson, who hit a pinch-hit home run against Texas-Pan American (April 17).
Season Tater Total Second-Best In Corbett Era: With 43 home runs this season, UTSA already has surpassed its season total from a year ago and it is the second-highest total of the Sherman Corbett era (55, 2004). The 43 long balls rank as the seventh-most in school history. The UTSA record is 66 set in 1999.
UTSA Leaves Yard Four Times: The Roadrunners launched four home runs in their 11-3 victory against Northwestern State on April 13 and it was the first time in more than two years that the program has done so. The last time UTSA hit four long balls in a contest was a 14-3 victory against Texas-Pan American on March 30, 2005.
Ten-Run Third A First Since 2005: In their 12-0 victory at Texas-Arlington on April 7, the Roadrunners scored 10 runs in the third inning, which was the first time since April 20, 2005, that UTSA crossed the plate 10 times in a frame. The Roadrunners sent 15 batters to the dish and had seven hits in the stanza, including a school-record-tying two by both junior Trent Lockwood and sophomore Michael Rockett.
Lineup Change Does The Trick: Stuck with a 4-9 record and averaging just 4.2 runs per game, head coach Sherman Corbett decided to shuffle his lineup on March 9. The seventh-year skipper moved sophomore James Keithley into the leadoff spot and since that switch, the Roadrunners have posted a 23-9 (.719) record, hit .316 as a team, averaged 11.3 hits per game and scored 7.5 runs per contest.
Red Hot Offense: After starting the year slowly, the UTSA offense has exploded the past 28 games, 20 of which have resulted in victories. The Roadrunners have scored 220 times (7.9 pg) and outscored the opposition by 88 runs during that time. UTSA has posted a .321 batting average on the strength of 325 hits (11.6 pg), slugged .528 (534 total bases) and reached base at .385 clip. More than 35 percent of the squad’s 325 hits (115) have gone for extra bases, including 59 doubles, 18 triples and 38 home runs. The Roadrunners also have stolen 29 bases.
Tough Schedule: The Roadrunners’ 55-game schedule is highlighted by six opponents that qualified for the 2006 NCAA Tournament ? Baylor, College of Charleston, Houston, Rice, Texas and Texas-Arlington. UTSA has a 5-7 record against those squads this season.
Close Games: In addition to scoring runs in bunches this year, the Roadrunners have shown the knack of playing close games. Twenty-five of the club’s 45 contests this year have been decided by three runs or less and it has a 15-10 mark in those games. UTSA has a 5-5 record in one-run tilts, a 6-3 mark in two-run contests and 4-2 record in games decided by three runs.
Ruffin On The Career Charts: Senior Josh Ruffin’s name can be found all over the Roadrunners’ career record book. The Humble native is UTSA’s all-time record holder with four career shutouts and he also ranks third in victories (19), appearances (77) and innings pitched (310.1); fourth in complete games (eight); fifth in games started (39) and strikeouts (190); and sixth in earned run average (4.61).
Blakley Throwing Strikes: Senior Josh Blakley has been as good as it gets coming out of the UTSA bullpen this season. The Lorena native has a perfect 5-0 record with one save and leads the staff with a 2.68 ERA (sixth SLC). Blakley has appeared in 21 contests and has a sterling 43/9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 53.2 innings. The right-hander picked up his fourth victory of the season on March 31 against Southeastern Louisiana after tossing a career-high 5.2 scoreless innings. He has gone at least four innings in eight of his appearances this season.
Home Cooking: Roadrunner Field and Wolff Stadium were tough places for the opposition to play in 2006, as UTSA registered a school-record 24 home victories. That broke the previous mark of 23 home wins set in 1994. This year has been no different, as the Roadrunners are 15-6 at home this year, including wins in 10 of their last 11 games played at Roadrunner Field. UTSA now has posted a 258-176 (.594) all-time home record in the program’s 16-year history.
Hit The Lights: For the first time in school history, UTSA is playing night games at Roadrunner Field this season. Eight of the team’s 21 contests at the facility are being played under the lights. The Feb. 16 home opener against Louisiana-Lafayette kicked off the night-time action at the “Bird Bath” and UTSA has a 5-1 record under the lights at Roadrunner Field this year. The Roadrunners have posted five night victories in a row since dropping the home opener.
Roadrunners Collect 400th All-Time Victory: UTSA won its 400th game in school history when it defeated St. Mary’s, 8-5, on Feb. 26. In 16 years of action, the Roadrunners have compiled 425 all-time wins, an average of nearly 27 per season.
Preseason Polls: UTSA was picked to finish second in the West Division by the sports information directors and third by the league’s coaches in the Preseason SLC Polls. The Roadrunners received five first-place votes in the SID rankings and three in the coaches poll. They were six points (51) behind co-favorites Texas-Arlington and Texas State in the coaches poll and only three (58) behind UTA in the SID poll. Defending regular season champion McNeese State was the consensus choice to defend its regular season title in the East.
Trio Named To Preseason All-SLC Teams: Three Roadrunners were named to the preseason All-SLC teams, as senior pitcher Josh Ruffin and sophomore outfielder Michael Rockett were first-team selections and senior third baseman Ryan Saltzgaber was named to the second team. Ruffin earned first-team accolades a year ago, while Rockett was a second-team honoree and Saltzgaber was an honorable mention selection.
What’s Back In 2007: UTSA is coming off a season that saw it finish with a 37-22 record (20-10 SLC). The team welcomes back 17 letterwinners ? including five position starters and six pitchers ? in addition to 19 newcomers this season. Topping the list of returnees are 2006 first-team All-SLC starting pitcher Josh Ruffin, a senior, and Freshman All-America center fielder Michael Rockett. Also back are sophomore second baseman James Keithley and senior third baseman Ryan Saltzgaber, both of whom earned honorable mention accolades a year ago.
2007 Captains: Senior starting pitcher Josh Ruffin, junior catcher Zach Etheredge and junior shortstop Marshal Davis will serve as team captains this season.
Head Coach Sherman Corbett: With more than 20 years of playing and coaching experience, Sherman Corbett is in his seventh season at UTSA. The winningest coach in school history (202 victories), Corbett led the Roadrunners to 37 victories a year ago, the second-most in school history. In his first six seasons, he has coached a pair of 30-win squads and 24 All-SLC players, including seven first-teamers. Corbett also has mentored the 2001 SLC Pitcher of the Year (Jared Howton), 2002 SLC Player and Hitter of the Year (Mark Schramek), 2003 SLC Freshman of the Year (Ryan Crew) and two Freshman All-Americans ? Crew (2003) and Michael Rockett (2006). Twelve of his Roadrunners have gone on to professional careers, including eight being selected in the MLB Draft.
