| Seniors Steven Vasquez (left) and Bradley Chovanec (middle) and sophomore Ryan Proudfoot will start in this weekend's SLC-opening, three-game series against McNeese State. | ||
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA looks to end a three-game losing streak this weekend when it begins defense of its 2007 Southland Conference Regular Season Championship against McNeese State at Roadrunner Field.
Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday and Sunday's 1 p.m. finale.
The Roadrunners have a 9-5 record this season and are coming off a 6-1 home loss against Northern Illinois on Tuesday. UTSA, which also dropped the final two games of last weekend's series at the College of Charleston, managed just three hits in the five-run defeat, which was nine below its season average.
Regular weekend starters Steven Vasquez, Bradley Chovanec and Ryan Proudfoot will take the mound for their fourth starts of the year this weekend.
Vasquez, a senior right-hander from Beeville, will start the opener. He sports a 2-1 record and 7.00 ERA in four appearances and has struck 19 in 18 innings of work. Vasquez will be opposed by left-hander Tyler Davis (1-3, 7.08), the reigning SLC Pitcher of the Week.
Chovanec looks to get back on the winning track on Saturday when he squares off against right-hander Scott Holstein (0-2, 7.40). The Burton native leads the Roadrunners with a 3-1 record and 2.84 ERA in four games of action. The senior righty also has fanned 19 and walked just three in a team-high 25.1 innings.
Proudfoot gets the nod in the Sunday finale. The sophomore right-hander from Lindale owns a perfect 2-0 mark in four appearances and has posted a 6.32 ERA in addition to punching out 17 in 15.2 frames. He will go up against Cowboys righty Jonathan Conrad (0-2, 10.95).
Despite Tuesday's performance, the offense continues to sport an impressive .323 batting average with 45 extra-base hits (32 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs) and it has scored 125 runs in just 14 games (8.9 pg).
Sophomore Tim Palincsar and junior James Keithley both are hitting a team-best .404, while Palincsar continues to lead in nearly every offensive category. The College Station native has 19 runs, 21 hits, three homers, 22 RBIs, 34 total bases, 12 walks, a .523 on-base percentage and .654 slugging percentage. Junior Jose Hernandez, meanwhile, has hits in his last five games and owns a .550 average (11-20) with six RBIs during that stretch.
McNeese State (3-11) has struggled under first-year head coach Terry Burrows, but the Cowboys enter the weekend having won two in a row. McNeese defeated No. 24 Oral Roberts by a score of 8-4 last Sunday and handed Texas Southern a 15-7 setback on Thursday for its first back-to-back victories of the campaign.
All three games can be heard live on goUTSA.com (Rowdy Zone
subscription required) and David Griffith will handle the call. The series
also can be followed on Jump TV's Gamewatcher.
Fans are encouraged to park in either Lot 1B (north of the UTSA Tennis
Center) or Lot 5 (south of the Convocation Center) and walk across the
UTSA Track & Field Complex due to construction going on near the
facility's main parking lots.
Last year, the Roadrunners jumped out to a 10-0 start in conference play, the second-best in SLC history, and went on to post a wire-to-wire championship with a league-record 24-6 mark.