| Junior Phillip Allen was 3-for-4 with a UTSA-record-tying seven RBIs on Saturday. |
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA exploded for the third-most runs in school history, tied a team record with 22 RBIs and romped to a 24-11 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday at Roadrunner Field. The game was called after the seventh inning for the second day in a row due to the Southland Conference’s run rule.
The Roadrunners, who won for the 12th time in their last 13 home games, improved to 29-18 overall and 19-4 in league play. The 24 runs scored were the most since UTSA crossed the plate a school-record 25 times against Iona on March 19, 2003.
Leading the way was senior Ryan Saltzgaber, who was a perfect 5-for-5with five runs scored, both of which tied a UTSA single-game record. It also was his 17th mulit-hit effort in the past 27 games. Meanwhile, junior PhillipAllen was 3-for-4 with a school-record-tying seven RBIs. Allen enteredthe day with just 11 RBIs on the season.
After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, the Roadrunners responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. The frame was highlighted by sophomore Michael Rockett’s three-run home run to left-center, his sixth long ball of the season.
However, the Islanders (23-26, 8-15 SLC) added a five-spot of their own in the second to retake the lead, but UTSA countered with five more tallies in its half of the frame to go up 10-7. Junior Trent Lockwood’s team-leading 10th homer of the year, a three-run shot, put the Roadrunners back on top.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi added a run in the third and two more in the fourth to tie the contest at 10, but UTSA exploded for four runs in the bottom of the frame and five more in both the fifth and sixth to put the game out of reach.
The Roadrunners had a season-high 22 hits on the day ? its most since April 26, 2005 (26, vs. Texas-Pan American) ? and every starter in the lineup had at least one safety in the rout. Eight starters crossed the plate and seven drove home runs.
Lockwood continued his hot streak at the plate, going 4-for-6 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Sophomore James Keithley was 3-for-4 with his eighth homer of the season, a career-best four RBIs and four runs.
Junior Mark Ruffin (1-0) picked up the win in relief of starter Bradley Chovanec. Ruffin allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and struck out four in 3.1 innings of work. Senior Josh Blakley held the Islanders to zeroes over the final two frames and fanned five to run his scoreless innings streak to 11.2 innings (last seven appearances).
A&M-Corpus Christi reliever Chris Wall (1-1) gave up five runs on six hits over 2.1 frames and was tagged with the loss.
The three-game set series wraps up at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Freshman right-hander Ryan Proudfoot (3-2, 2.84 ERA) will oppose righty Omar Gutierrez (3-4, 6.53).