| Junior Lance Brown's third hit of the night brought home the winning run on Friday night (photo courtesy of Shawn Davis). |
SAN ANTONIO ? Junior Lance Brown's two-run single with two down in the ninth brought home junior Eric Johnston with the winning run and UTSA posted a 10-9 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night at Roadrunner Field.
It was the second walk-off triumph of the year for the Roadrunners (15-8, 7-3 SLC), who have won five games in a row, and they remained in a three-way tie with Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State atop the Southland Conference standings.
UTSA, which scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games (11th time this season overall/all wins), continued its strong play at the Bird Bath, winning for 22nd time in the last 28 games at its on-campus facility.
Senior designated hitter Jose Hernandez led off the final frame with a walk and moved up to second on senior first baseman Aaron Powell's sacrifice bunt. Johnston then was put into the contest as a pinch runner and, following a pop up to second by junior catcher Ryan Rummel and a free pass issued to freshman left fielder Jason Mohn, Brown stroked a 2-2 pitch from Brett Gibson down the right field line and UTSA walked off the with the thrilling, one-run victory.
"Lance had a great at-bats all night and came through when we needed him the most," head coach Sherman Corbett said after the game. "He has been swinging the bat really well the last couple weeks and has provided us with a spark at the bottom of the lineup."
Junior right-hander Zach Calhoon (3-1) struck out four over the final two frames for the win, while Gibson (0-1) was tagged with the loss.
It may have been an exciting finish, but one could argue it should have never reached that point, as the Birds once held a commanding 9-0 lead after scoring five runs in the second and four more an inning later.
Rummel got things going in the second with a leadoff double and he came home one batter later when Mohn lined a base hit up the middle. Consecutive singles by Brown and sophomore second baseman Ryan Hutson loaded the bases and sophomore right fielder Tyler Carpenter plated the second run of the frame with his sacrifice fly to right. Senior shortstop Marshal Davis then cleared the bases with his team-leading fourth triple of the season and senior All-America center fielder Michael Rockett closed out the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left.
Mohn's second run-scoring single in as many innings brought home Rummel, who doubled to lead off the third, and that kick started another big frame. UTSA's left fielder eventually came home on a passed ball by Islanders catcher Stephen Flora to stretch the lead to 7-0 and Davis closed out the scoring with his two-RBI chopper through the right side of the infield.
A&M-Corpus Christi (9-18, 1-9 SLC) began to chip away at the nine-run deficit with four runs in the fourth. The Islanders then plated a pair two stanzas later to pull within three at 9-6 and their three-run third tied the game.
Brown, Davis and Mohn all had three hits and Davis had a career-high four RBIs.
Meanwhile, Brycen Bell was 3-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the Islanders at the plate.
Junior right-hander Red Patterson started for the Roadrunners and allowed six runs on 11 hits and struck out seven in five-plus innings. A&M-Corpus Christi starter Jake Liedka surrendered four runs on four hits and walked three in one-plus inning of work.
The series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Senior lefty Kris Ruepke (0-2, 8.33 ERA) will oppose right-hander Brandon Orr (1-1, 6.82).