| Sophomore Ryan Hutson has hit five long balls, including a pair of two-homer games, in the last six contests for the Roadrunners. |
SAN MARCOS ? UTSA scored nine unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings and the Roadrunners clubbed the second-most homers in school history en route to an easy 15-6 victory at No. 26 Texas State on Friday night in the opening contest of this weekend's three-game Southland Conference series.
The Birds (26-19, 15-10 SLC), who won for the eighth time in their last 10 tilts, got two home runs from both sophomore Ryan Hutson and freshman Casey Selsor, while sophomores Brett Aguilar and Tyler Carpenter also left the park. The half dozen long balls just missed the program record of seven set in a 22-7 victory against Incarnate Word on April 29, 1997.
The 15 runs were the most scored by UTSA in the series since a 24-12 victory on April 2, 1995, which also was the last time the Roadrunners won by at least nine tallies.
"The bottom of the lineup really swung the bats well for us tonight," ninth-year head coach Sherman Corbett said. "Texas State has been playing well all season long, but Red Patterson battled after getting off to a slow start. He got better as the game wore on and ended up giving us seven strong innings. Overall, I thought it was a great start to the weekend."
After falling behind 3-1 after the second inning, UTSA pushed across four runs in third and five more the following frame to take the lead for good. The Bobcats (31-12, 18-6 SLC) ended the stretch when they put a mark up in the fifth, but the Birds added single tallies in the sixth and seventh and three-spot in the eighth to go up by 11. Texas State avoided the run-rule with a pair in its half of the eighth to complete the scoring.
The victory was the Roadrunners' first against a ranked opponent this season and it snapped the Bobcats' conference winning streak at eight.
UTSA had a season-high 20 hits, its most since March 26 a year ago (27-4 victory vs. Prairie View A&M), and every Roadrunner had at least one safety and crossed the plate, while the bottom seven hitters in the lineup drove in a run.
Hutson led the way by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and pushed his season total to 10 with his second two-homer game in the last half dozen contests. The Round Rock native, who also tripled in the second and was thrown out trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run, has clubbed five long balls in his last six starts. He hit a solo shot in the seventh and a two-run job the following inning.
"This was a big win for us tonight," Hutson said. "It was a great team effort and it was exactly what we needed to start the series. We're really coming together as a team after starting the year a little slower than we wanted to."
Meanwhile, Selsor launched the first two bombs of his career, solo shots in both the fourth and eighth. The San Antonio native was 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
Aguilar's two-run tater with two down in the third put UTSA in front good (5-3) and it was his second game-winning long ball in the last three contests. Carpenter's homer was his second in as many games and sixth of the year.
Senior All-American Michael Rockett added three singles to extend his hitting steak to 10 games, his third double-digit stretch of the season, and he has hit safely in all but three tilts this spring. He also inched closer to the SLC career record for RBIs with his pair and the Sugar Land native now has 194, which is three shy of tying the mark.
Junior right-hander Red Patterson (5-3) picked up the victory after giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks, while striking out three in seven innings. It was his fourth consecutive quality start and team-leading sixth of the season.
Bobcats right-hander and SLC Pitcher of the Year candidate Kane Holbrooks was unable to get out of the fourth inning, which was his shortest start of the season, and he ended up allowing a season-high 10 runs on 11 hits. Holbrooks, who entered his 11th start of the year with a conference-best 9-0 record and 2.20 ERA, walked two and struck out three in his 3.2 frames.
Tyler Sibley went 4-for-5 with his ninth homer of the year and two RBIs to lead Texas State at the plate.
The series now shifts to the Alamo City with Saturday's contest scheduled for 2 p.m. Senior southpaw Kris Ruepke (1-4, 7.71 ERA) will get the nod for the Birds and he will oppose Bobcats righty Zach Tritz (6-2, 5.16). Roadrunners head football coach Larry Coker will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the contest.