Roadrunners to conclude four-game home stand against Houston

SAN ANTONIO —UTSA will look to put a positive finishing touch on its current four-game home stand when it hosts Houston on Tuesday night. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at the Bird Bath.

The Roadrunners (13-17) are coming off Sunday's 9-8 victory against Stephen F. Austin, a triumph that enabled them to get out of the basement of the Southland Conference standings. UTSA owns a 4-11 league mark as the circuit nears the halfway point of the conference's 33-game schedule.

UTSA rallied for three runs in the ninth, held off a furiousfinal-inning rally by Houston and ended a season-long six-game losingstreak with a thrilling 6-5 victory at Cougar Field on March 30. It marked the third year in a row that the Birds won in the Bayou City and they now have been victorious in four of the last seven matchups between the two programs.

Junior Tyler Carpenter has his batting average up to a season-best .331 on the strength of an 11-game hitting streak in which he has hit .458 (22-for-48). The Missouri City native has posted seven multi-hit games, including a quartet of three-hit performances, and scored 14 times since entering the leadoff spot on March 27. Meanwhile, senior Ryan Rummel continues to lead the Birds with his .381 average, while freshman Ryan Dalton leads the team with eight home runs and junior Ryan Hutson paces the squad with 28 RBIs.

Redshirt sophomore Jason Walls is scheduled to get the start for the Roadrunners, which will be his first starting assignment since March 18, 2008. In eight appearances this spring, the Sachse native has posted a 4.91 ERA in 14.2 innings of work. His best outing of the year came two weeks ago in the first meeting between the two schools when he tossed three scoreless innings, retiring the final eight hitters he faced  and nine of 10 overall.

The Cougars (13-17) come into the contest reeling, having lost seven of their last eight tilts, a stretch that begin with the one-run loss to the Birds.

Tuesday is Student Organization Night and the first 100 fans in attendance will receive free hot dogs courtesy of Aramark. There also will be prizes for the largest group in attendance.

UTSA begins a season-long nine-game road trip on Friday when it heads to Northwestern State for the beginning of a weekend Southland Conference series.