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| Junior Lance Brown raised his batting average from .118 to .273 with his 4-for-5 performance on Tuesday night. |
CORPUS CHRISTI ? Junior third baseman Lance Brown led a season-high 18-hit offensive onslaught with a career-best four safeties and UTSA pounded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 10-4, in a non-conference contest on Tuesday night at Whataburger Field.
The Roadrunners improved to 4-1 in posting their third come-from-behind win of the year.
“We did another outstanding job of coming back tonight,” head coach Sherman Corbett said after the game. “We swung the bats really well once again and I thought the outing we got from Clay (Schrader) was key in keeping us in the game. This was an important win for us in the first of five tough games in a row on the road.”
UTSA drew first blood when senior designated hitter Aaron Powell laced a two-out RBI single to center in the first. That brought home junior catcher Ryan Rummel, who singled to left center with one out and stole second one batter later.
A&M-Corpus Christi (1-4), which left two runners on base in each of the first two frames, took the lead with a three-spot in the third.
Brycen Bell led off the frame with a single to center and Stephen Flora followed with a double down the right-field line that sophomore Tyler Carpenter just missed with a diving effort. Martin Parra then drilled a triple to right center and he came home on Trey Hernandez’ grounder to short one batter later.
The Roadrunners tied the game in the sixth when senior All-American Michael Rockett launched a solo home run to left center to lead off the stanza, his second of the year, and a two-out throwing error by Hernandez that allowed senior left fielder Jose Hernandez, who reached on a double down the left-field line, to score from third.
UTSA reclaimed the lead one inning later.
Carpenter led off the stanza with his fifth double of the year and Rummel then reached on an infield single to short and moved up a base on the play when no one covered second base, Rockett followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Roadrunners a 4-3 edge. UTSA tacked on another run when Powell laced a liner through the drawn-in infield, which allowed Rummel to come home with the Roadrunners’ fifth run.
UTSA went on to add three more runs in the eighth on a wild pitch that brought home Hutson, who led off the inning with a two-bagger, an RBI triple by senior shortstop Marshal Davis and a run-scoring double by Rummel with two down.
Jose Hernandez completed the scoring in the ninth when he hit a towering two-run homer that landed just in front of the scoreboard in left center, It was his second long ball of the season.
Freshman Clay Schrader (1-0) was dominant in relief of freshman starter Marc Gomez and the right-hander earned his first collegiate victory. Schrader tossed four scoreless innings and struck out a career-high six hitters, while allowing just two singles in the 52-pitch (37 strikes) performance.
Brown, who entered the game hitting just .118, raised his season average 155 points with his 4-for-5 performance. Rummel tied his career high with three hits and Powell added three of his own to push his season average to .500 (11-for-22).
Gomez, a Corpus Christi native who was making the first start of his collegiate career, surrendered three runs on four hits and fanned a quartet of Islanders in his four innings of work. The two-time Texas 4A Player of the Year led Moody High School to the 2007 UIL Championship.
Brett Carnline (0-2) was charged with the loss after giving up a pair of runs on three hits in an inning of relief.
Left-hander Roy Ferdin started and allowed three runs on eight hits, while fanning four in 5.1 frames.
Bell and Jeremy Narvaez led A&M-Corpus Christi with two hits apiece.
The Roadrunners continue their road trip this weekend with a three-game series at Oral Roberts (3-0). First pitch in Friday's opener is slated for 3 p.m. at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla. All three games can be heard on goUTSA.com.