ARLINGTON ? UT Arlington head coach Darin Thomas announced Friday that this weekend's three-game Southland Conference series, which is scheduled to be played at Clay Gould Ballpark, now will consist of a single game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a noon doubleheader the next day. Inclement weather in the Metroplex forced the changes.
Live audio and stats for Saturday's opener will not be available at goUTSA.com, but fans can follow all the action at utamavs.com through CBS College Sports GameTracker. Sunday's twinbill can be heard on goUTSA.com (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports). Live stats for both contests also will be available on the official Web site of UTSA Athletics.
The Roadrunners (9-4, 2-1 SLC) are beginning what is now 10-day, eight-game road trip this weekend and it will feature stops in Arlington, Manhattan, Kan., and Huntsville. UTSA has won four of its last five games, including Tuesday's 11-6 home victory against Illinois State.
Pregame notes
? The Roadrunners trail the all-time series, 33-25, but have won four of the last half dozen meetings.
? Saturday marks the beginning of a season-long eight-game road tripthat will be played over the next nine days. UTSA went 3-2 in its firstroadie of the year (wins at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Robertsand Houston).
? UTSA, the two-time defending Southland Conference Regular SeasonChampion, is the consensus preseason favorite to earn a three-peat thisseason.
? The Roadrunners have won five of their last six contests, includingopening the SLC campaign with a pair of wins against SoutheasternLouisiana last weekend
? Senior center fielder Michael Rockett, a preseason first-teamAll-American, is riding a career-best 18-game hitting streak (datingback to May 16, 2008) in which he has hit .365 (31-for-85) with fourdoubles, a triple, six home runs and 19 RBIs. He set the program'sall-time hits record with his 3-for-5 performance on Sunday, March 1.
? Sophomore right fielder Tyler Carpenter, the team's leadoff hitter,is on a career-long 14-game hitting streak (.383, 7 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBIs)dating back to May 23, 2008.
? Senior left fielder Jose Hernandez ranks third in the country inslugging percentage (1.089), sixth in total bases (49) and seventh inhomers (7). He tied the program's single-game record with three longballs, including a walk-off two-run homer with two outs last Fridayagainst Southeastern Louisiana.
? Other Roadrunners on the national leaderboard include freshmanleft-handed pitcher Casey Selsor (6th/3 W) and senior shortstop MarshalDavis (7th/7 3B)
? The Roadrunners are averaging 9.2 runs and 11.9 hit per game thisspring. Nearly 41 percent of their base knocks have gone for extrabases (37 2B, 7 3B, 19 HR).
? UTSA has scored in double figures in five of its last half dozen contests and seven times this season (all wins).
? The Birds have been successful on 88 percentage of their stolen base attempts (22-for-25).
? Junior right-handed starter Red Patterson is averaging more than a strikeout per innings (team-best 22 in 17.2 IP).
? Junior preseason All-America closer Zach Calhoon has saved two games(in three chances) this year and run his UTSA career record to 21.
? The Roadrunners 11-8 victory two Sundays ago at Oral Roberts endedthe nation's longest active home winning streak at 25 games.
? UTSA picked up its first season-opening win in nine years with their 8-5 victory against San Francisco on Friday, Feb. 20
