UTSA Roadrunners (1-2) at Hotel Encanto Invitational
NMSU Softball Complex (1,000) ? Las Cruces, N.M.
Friday, Feb. 15
UTSA (1-2) vs. Colorado State Rams (4-1) ? 12:30 p.m.
Series Record: UTSA leads, 5-3 ? Last Meeting: UTSA, 12-2 (Feb. 10, 2006)
Saturday, Feb. 16
UTSA vs. Illinois-Chicago Flames (2-2) ? 10 a.m.
Series Record: Illinois-Chicago leads, 2-1 ? Last Meeting: Illinois-Chicago, 3-2 (Feb. 14, 1999)
UTSA vs. North Dakota State Bison (3-1) 12:30 p.m.
Series Record: first meeting
Sunday, Feb. 17
UTSA at New Mexico State Aggies (1-4) ? 10 a.m.
Series Record: UTSA leads, 8-7 ? Last Meeting: New Mexico State, 3-2 (Feb. 11, 2006)
UTSA vs. UT Arlington Mavericks (1-4) ? 3 p.m.
Series Record: UTSA leads, 33-22 ? Last Meeting: UT Arlington, 6-2 (May 11, 2007)
NOTE: all times Central
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA heads to Las Cruces, N.M., to compete in the HotelEncanto Invitational hosted by New Mexico State on Friday-Sunday, Feb.15-17, at the NMSU Softball Complex. Click here to follow all the action as it happens.
Base Hits
? UTSA is participating in its fifth tournament hosted by New Mexico State
? The Roadrunners are 10-10 all-time in NMSU Tournaments, including going 4-1 to win the 2006 Hilton Invitational
? UTSA is a combined 48-33 all-time against the Hotel Encanto Invitational field
Texas Series Recap: Freshman Dany? Holmes pitched 6 2/3 innings and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including the game winner, to help lift UTSA to a 3-2 victory over No. 22 Texas in game two of a three-game series last Saturday at McCombs Field. Holmes struck out seven and allowed just two walks and two runs in her first pitching appearance as a Roadrunner. Megan Denny helped lead the Longhorns to a 3-1 victory in game one behind 17 strikeouts, while Texas won the rubber game on Sunday, 10-2, on the strength of three home runs.
Scouting The Field: UTSA will face Colorado State on Friday to open tournament play. The Rams enter with a 4-1 record after defeating No. 20 Oregon (3-2), Portland State (4-0), Winthrop (3-2) and UC Riverside (7-6) at the Cathedral City (Calif.) Kickoff last weekend. The Roadrunners play Illinois-Chicago (2-2) and North Dakota State (4-1) on Saturday. The UIC Flames defeated San Diego twice, but fell to Stanford (5-1) and Long Beach State (5-4) at the San Diego Tournament over the weekend. NDSU went 3-1 at the Miken Dome tourney in Fargo, N.D., defeating Wisconsin-Green Bay three times and splitting with Iowa State. On Sunday, UTSA will play New Mexico State (1-4), whose only win at the Cathedral City Kickoff came against California last Saturday, and UT Arlington (1-4), which downed Florida International last Sunday for its only victory at the FIU Invitational.
Preseason Prognostications: UTSA has been picked to finish fourth by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors in the 2008 Southland Conference Preseason Polls. Junior Leanne Risberg and sophomore Rudi Cantu have been selected to the SLC Preseason First and Second Team, respectively, in the outfield.
Tough Slate: UTSA will face a tough schedule in 2008, including five teams that made the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Texas is ranked No. 24 in USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll and is receiving votes in the USA Softball/ESPN Top 25 Poll. Also on the slate are No. 7/10 Baylor, a Women’s College World Series participant in 2007, RV/No. 21 Missouri and No. 23/RV Houston.
Career Record Watch: Senior right-hander Amanda Nikolenko is on pace to break UTSA career records for wins, starts, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. She enters this season with 54 wins (record is 61), 84 starts (93), 56 complete games (72), 564 innings (601) and 452 strikeouts (519).
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 464 home runs in 281 games, an average of 1.65 per game. The Roadrunners have led the NCAA in home runs in four of the past five seasons and have hit more long balls during that span than any other program. In 2006, 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.
A New Era: Lori Cook is in her third year as head coach with a career 65-47 record (.580). In her first season in 2006, UTSA went 37-14, 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.
Up Next: UTSA faces UTEP in a three-game series on Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 23-24, in El Paso.
