UTSA rallies past No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-2, on Sunday

SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA scored five runs in the fifth inning and rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-2, in the seventh game of the 2008 UTSA Baseball Classic on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field. It was the team's second consecutive win after dropping Friday's season opener to No. 40 Oral Roberts.

"This was a quality win for us," head coach Sherman Corbett saidfollowing the victory. "Louisiana-Lafayette is a very good team and alot of our players were here last year when they stuck it to us in theseason-opening series. I was really proud of how the guys battledand the pitchers did a great job of keeping us in the game. We need to carry the momentum from today'swin into tomorrow's game against Texas Tech."

Heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Ragin' Cajuns (2-2) staked starter Buddy Glass to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the third and fifth innings. Glass had faced just one batter over the minimum in his first four frames of work and looked to be on cruise control.

However, things quickly came apart for the 6-foot-1 right-hander.

After junior left fielder Jose Hernandez popped out to first to start the frame, senior catcher Zach Etheredge was hit by a pitch and sophomore third baseman Ryan Rummel then drew a four-pitch walk. That brought up junior right fielder Aaron Powell and he lined Glass' 0-1 offering into the right center field gap for a triple and that tied the game at two. Junior shortstop Lance Brown followed with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield and UTSA took the lead for good.

Junior second baseman James Keithley then drew a walk and that sent Glass to the showers. Right-handed reliever Randall Bulliard was called in from the bullpen and he promptly struck out sophomore designated hitter Tim Palincsar for the second out of the frame. However, junior center fielder Michael Rockett followed with a liner up the middle to bring home Brown and ULL center fielder Josh Logan misplayed the ball and that allowed Keithley come home all the way from first with the fifth and final run of the inning.

It was all UTSA from that point forward, as junior righty J.P. Holton, who was making his Roadrunners debut, and sophomore closer Zach Calhoon combined to allow just one hit the rest of the way, while striking out eight.

Holton allowed just one hit, walked one and fanned six in three scoreless innings of relief of starter Ryan Proudfoot. Calhoon came on in the ninth to earn his first save of the season and the seventh of his young career (T-No. 4 in UTSA history).

Proudfoot (1-0) was solid in his first start of the season. The sophomore right-hander allowed a pair of runs (one earned) on just three hits in five innings of work. The Lindale native walked three and punched out a half dozen. All told, Roadrunners pitchers fanned 14 ULL hitters on the afternoon.

Glass was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on three hits and a pair of walks. He struck out seven.

The Ragin' Cajuns drew first blood when they plated an unearned run in the third. William Long, who was hit by a pitch to start the frame and moved to second when Logan laid down a sacrifice bunt in front of the plate, took off for third on a 2-2 pitch to Tyler Benzel. Benzel swung through the offering to strike out, but Etheredge threw wide of the bag and Long trotted home with the game's first run.

Louisiana-Lafayette then plated its second tally of the day when Dillon Guillory doubled to lead off the fifth, moved to third on a balk by Proudfoot and came home on a Logan sacrifice fly to center.

UTSA concludes tournament play at 2 p.m. on Monday against Texas Tech (2-1) at Wolff Stadium. The Red Raiders defeated Army, 16-2, on Sunday morning before losing to Oral Roberts, 7-6, in the day's final contest. Junior lefty Kris Ruepke will make his Roadrunners debut on the mound.

2008 UTSA Baseball Classic
Day 3 Scoreboard (Feb. 24)
Texas Tech 16, Army 2
UTSA 5, #19 Louisiana-Lafayette 2 (Roadrunner Field)
#40 Oral Roberts 7, Texas Tech 6

Day 4 Schedule (Feb. 25)
Texas Tech (1-2) at UTSA (2-1), 2 p.m.