Diamond men to begin five-game home stand on Tuesday night

SAN ANTONIO — UTSA begins a stretch of five consecutive home games this week when it hosts Iowa in the opener of a two-game series on Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m., as is Wednesday's finale.

The Roadrunners currently sit at 7-7 on the season following last weekend's three-game sweep at the hands of then-No. 26 Southeastern Louisiana (now ranked 17th nationally). The Birds have lost seven of their last nine contests after starting the spring with a program-record five wins in a row.

Iowa, meanwhile, stands at 4-9 after dropping four games this past weekend at then-No. 3 Texas. The Hawkeyes, currently in the midst of a season-opening 18-game road trip, have dropped six contests in a row and eight of 10 overall.

The two tilts will be the only ones played by UTSA at the Wolff this season. The Birds have posted a 63-47 (.573) all-time record at the home of the Double-A San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres affiliate), including a 22-8 mark (.733) mark the last four springs. In fact, the Roadrunners have won 20 of their last 26 games at the 17-year-old facility.

UTSA's offense is being led by junior second baseman Ryan Hutson, who leads the team in batting average (.286), hits (14), home runs (four), RBIs (16), hit by pitch (four), on-base percentage (.390), total bases (30) and slugging percentage (.612). The Round Rock native hit two homers at Alumni Field over the weekend and now has left the park 16 times in his last 26 games (dating back to April 21, 2009).

Meanwhile, senior outfielder/designated hitter Ryan Rummel has been on fire since entering the starting lineup two Saturdays ago. The Uvalde native has a trifecta of three-hit games in those five starts and owns a .478 batting average (11-for-23) to go along with three doubles, a pair of long balls and five RBIs during that stretch. He hit two bombs on Sunday, which was the first two-homer contest of his four-year career.

Iowa is hitting a respectable .283 as a team and averaging a little more than five runs per outing, but the Hawkeyes have been outscored, 100-70, and their pitching staff has surrendered 129 hits in just 107.1 innings of work (.295 BAA) to go along with a 76-to-62 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Mike McQuillan is hitting .375 with a team-best two home runs and squad-leading 10 RBIs.

The two teams have met just once and that came four years ago when the Roadrunners picked up a 3-1 victory on March 10, 2006, in the Baseball Express Collegiate Classic at Wolff Stadium.