| Junior James Keithley hit his second homer of the year on Tuesday. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Left-hander Dave Reynolds limited UTSA to just one run on three hits over 6.2 innings and Justin Behm went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs to lead Northern Illinois past the Roadrunners, 6-1, on Tuesday at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA, which dropped its third game in a row after winning seven straight from Feb. 29-March 8, came into the contest averaging 9.5 runs and 12.2 hits per game. However, Reynolds kept the Roadrunners (9-5) off balance with an assortment of off-speed pitches and pinpoint control.
Making his first start of the year, the southpaw retired the first seven hitters he faced and 12 of the first 13 overall in improving to 1-0 on the year. Reynolds, who threw 89 pitches (52 for strikes), allowed just one runner to reach second base and walked just one, while striking out one.
Dave Nykiel, Dan Atkenson and Andy Deain combined to hold UTSA hitless over the final 2.1 innings to preserve the five-run victory for the Huskies (3-7).
After Roadrunners starter J.P. Holton retired the first nine hitters he faced, Northern Illinois figured the right-hander out and plated three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in the fourth inning.
The Huskies tacked on a run in the seventh on Joe Buonavolanto’s one-out, bloop single to right and two more in the ninth to sew up the victory.
Junior second baseman James Keithley scored UTSA’s lone tally of the game when he launched a two-out solo home run, his second of the year, in the sixth off Reynolds. Junior left fielder Jose Hernandez had the Roadrunners’ other two hits of the evening.
Seven of the Huskies’ nine starters on offense had at least one hit and Jeff Thomas brought home two with his base hit in the ninth.
Holton (0-1) picked the loss after giving up three runs on three hits and two walk in 3.1 innings.
The series was originally scheduled as a 2 p.m. doubleheader, but wet field conditions necessitated the switch to one nine-inning contest.
The Roadrunners open defense of their 2007 Southland Conference Regular Season Championship when they host McNeese State (2-11) in a weekend three-game series at the Bird Bath. Senior right-hander Steven Vasquez (2-1, 7.00 ERA) will get the nod for UTSA in the 6 p.m. opener on Friday.