| Senior Ryan Rummel went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles in his first start of the season on Saturday. |
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — UTSA plated a pair of runs in the ninth on a run-scoring double by senior Jeff Taliaferro and a pinch hit RBI single by sophomore Jason Mohn and the Roadrunners (6-4) halted their four-game losing streak with a 9-8 victory on Saturday at San Francisco's Benedetti Diamond.
Trailing 8-7 and down to their final two outs, the Roadrunners' rally began when senior Ryan Rummel stroked a one-out two-bagger to left off Dons reliever Joe Oropeza, which chased the right-handed reliever from the game. USF head coach Nino Giarratano then called on Sean Burns (0-1) to face Taliaferro and the Birds' catcher lined Burns' 1-0 offering off the wall in left to tie the game. Senior Eric Johnson was called from the bench to pinch run for Taliaferro and the Lufkin native promptly moved to third on a wild pitch. Mohn then delivered a base hit to left and that put UTSA in front for the first time in the contest.
Junior right-hander Kevin Clarke was able to retire the side in the bottom of the inning on just one hit, giving the Roadrunners their first win in the last seven days. Clarke (2-0), who entered the game with a runner on first and nobody down in the eighth, surrendered the go-ahead single in that frame (the run was charged to junior Taylor Walton) but did not allow a run of his own over the final two panels to pick up the victory.
San Francisco (5-5), playing its first true home game of the spring, lit up the scoreboard first with a three-run second off UTSA southpaw starter Matt Crocker. After UTSA responded with three marks one inning later, the Dons went back in front on Derek Poppert's home run to lead off the third.
A two-out single off the bat of sophomore Casey Selsor in the fourth knotted the tilt at four, but Ryan Lipkin's three-run homer to left off Crocker one frame later put USF back in front by three.
The Roadrunners rallied once again, this time with three marks on four hits in the seventh, including three consecutive doubles with two down, and they tied the contest at seven.
Selsor was 3-for-4 with a double, walk and three runs scored, while Rummel, who was making his first start of the season, added three hits, including a pair of two-baggers, and he crossed the plate twice. Taliaferro added two doubles of his own to go along with a pair of RBIs and freshman Ryan Dalton was 2-for-4 with two runs.
Lipkin and Poppert had three hits apiece for the Dons.
The contest featured a combined 27 hits, including 10 doubles, seven of which came from the Roadrunners.
The four-game series concludes at 1 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.