AUSTIN — Tant Shepherd hit a walk-off three-run home run with two down in the 11th to propel fifth-ranked Texas to an 8-5 victory against UTSA on Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Roadrunners (6-9) dropped their fifth contest in their last seven outings, while the Longhorns improved to 8-4.
Senior right-hander Kevin Clarke retired the first two Longhorns he faced in the decided inning. After giving up a base hit to Jonathan Walsh, Clarke issued a his fifth free pass of the night to Jacob Felts. Shepherd then fouled off five conseuctive offerings before connecting on the eighth pitch of the at-bat for the game winner.
Corey Knebel (1-1) picked up the victory after hurling 3.2 scoreless innings. He yielded just one hit and struck out six.
Clarke (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on a pair of hits in his 3.2 frames. He fanned five.
The Roadrunners fell behind early, as Texas scored a pair of runs on a two-out single by Kevin Lusson in the second.
Jordan Etier led off the next stanza with a the Longhorns' first homer of the season to push the lead to three. Back-to-back throwing errors by senior left-handed starter D.D. Towler plated UT's fourth run later in the panel and, three batters later, Towler was chased from the contest after loading the bases. Texas then took a 5-0 lead when a Felts ground out brought home Mark Payton.
It took UTSA five more innings to dent the scoreboard but it did so in a big way, scoring five unearned runs in the eighth off a pair of Texas relievers to tie the contest.
The Roadrunners scored their first run on the board when junior Matthew James scored from second on a fielding error by the Longhorns. UTSA put up its second mark when the Longhorns committed another miscue. After a run-scoring single by senior Tyler Carpenter, sophomore Jake Wood cleared the bases with a ground-rule double to right-center with two out.
Texas starter Cole Green was nearly perfect, as he faced just one batter over the minimum and struck out nine in four innings.
Towler was touched up for five runs (three earned) on three hits and he walked three in 2.1 frames.
James led the Roadrunners offensively with a pair of hits.
UTSA opens Southland Conference play on Friday when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana (8-4) in the first of a three-game series at Roadrunner Field. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
