FRISCO — One day after becoming UTSA's all-time home run leader, senior Ryan Hutson was named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week, the league office announced on Sunday.
Hutson helped the Roadrunners to a 3-1 mark last week, including earning the program's first-ever season sweep of Houston and taking two of three contests against Central Arkansas.
The Round Rock native was 9-for-17 (.438) with a double, five home runs and eight RBIs. He also accumulated 23 total bases, which translated to a 1.438 slugging percentage. Hutson surpassed Jeff Juarez's 12-year old mark of 47 home runs, which was set from 1996-99, after belting three round-trippers in Saturday's regular season finale against Central Arkansas. His record-breaking 48th homer came on his final swing at Roadrunner Field. The first baseman also became the fourth player in the program's 20-year history to hit three home runs in a game and first since Jose Hernandez accomplished the feat on March 6, 2009.
Hutson, who previously was honored on April 4 this season, is hitting .342 with 11 doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 35 RBIs this spring.
The Roadrunners (26-30, 16-17 SLC), who won 15 of their final 24 league games after starting 1-8, will be the No. 6 seed at this week's Southland Conference Tournament in San Marcos. UTSA will play the first game of the four-day event at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 25, against third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (34-22, 19-14 SLC). The Birds swept the Islanders from April 1-3 at Roadrunner Field earlier this season and have won five of the last six meetings between the two programs.
