| Senior Jose Hernandez hit two of UTSA's school-record eight home runs on Friday night, the last of which was a two-run walk-off shot. |
SAN ANTONIO ? It was another wild night at Roadrunner Field and it was capped by senior Jose Hernandez' two-run homer with nobody out in the 10th inning and UTSA rallied for a 15-13 victory against Central Arkansas. The teams both scored in double figures for the second night in a row and combined for 43 hits, 19 of which went for extra bases.
The Roadrunners (31-22, 20-12 SLC) broke the program's 12-year-old single-game record with eight long balls in posting their 18th come-from-behind win of the season. The 1997 squad launched seven bombs in a 22-7 victory against Incarnate Word on April 29 of that year. UTSA, which broke the single-season record six days ago at McNeese State (66, 1999), pushed its season total to 86, 14 of which have come in the first two games of this weekend's series. In fact, the Birds have left the yard 44 times in their last 14 outings.
Junior Lance Brown got the game-winning rally started with a single through the left side of the infield for his fourth hit of the night. Hernandez then deposited a 1-0 fastball from Bobby Pritchett over the wall in left center for his second walk-off homer of the season and 15th of the campaign overall. The Anaheim Hills, Calif., native launched a game-winning two-run homer to cap a five-run comeback against Southeastern Louisiana on March 6.
Junior right-hander Kevin Clarke (3-2) picked up the win with five solid innings in relief of senior southpaw Kris Ruepke. Clarke scattered eight hits in allowing just a pair of runs (one earned) and he shattered his career high with nine strikeouts (previous: 4, at McNeese State, May 10).
UTSA rallied from a 7-3 deficit by scoring seven runs in the fifth, an inning that featured a school-record four home runs, including back-to-back-to-back shots by sophomores Ryan Hutson and Tyler Carpenter followed by a solo shot by junior Ryan Rummel.
The Bears (19-29, 10-21 SLC) retook the lead with four runs in the sixth, but the Roadrunners answered with a pair in their half of the frame when Hernandez hit his first bomb of the night, a two-run shot over the scoreboard in left center.
Central Arkansas pulled within one with an unearned run in the eighth and took the led the following stanza when Josh Huffman, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Clarke. Huffman's second two-bagger of the night gave him a UCA-record six for the game.
The Birds sent the contest into extra frames when they manufactured a run in the ninth. Carpenter led off with a double and he moved to third on a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt by junior pinch hitter Gilbert Saenz, who entered the game on an 0-2 count following Rummel's ejection for arguing balls and strikes. Freshman Casey Selsor then delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center that easily plated Carpenter with the tying run.
Pritchett, who played the first eight-plus innings at shortstop for the Bears, was charged with the loss and he saw his record drop to 3-5 on the year.
Hernandez finished the night with his 24th double of the spring (No. 2 on UTSA's single-season chart) and five RBIs in addition to his pair of homers, while Hutson continued his tear at the plate with two bombs, his fifth game in row with at least one long ball. UTSA's second baseman now has a team-leading 17 on the year, which is one shy of the program's single-season record shared by Jeff Juarez (1999) and Kent Wallis (1998), and he has posted a dozen homers in his last 13 contests, including a pair four times.
Senior All-American Michael Rockett added his 14th tater of the season and finished the night 2-for-5, which extended his season-best hitting streak to 18 games. Meanwhile, sophomore Brett Aguilar went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and his fifth homer of the season.
Graham Martin went 4-for-6 and Dillon Smith had four RBIs in addition to Huffman's big night for Central Arkansas.
The Roadrunners will go after their second conference sweep in a row and fourth of the year on Sunday when junior right-hander Ryan Proudfoot (2-1, 6.07 ERA) opposes Bears righty Reece Cross (3-4, 4.63). UTSA's eight-member senior class ? Andy Benedict, Marshal Davis, Hernandez, J.P. Holton, J.T. Mackey, Aaron Powell, Rockett and Ruepke ? will be honored for their contributions to the program prior to the 1 p.m. first pitch.