SAN ANTONIO — Junior Matthew James' walk-off single to center field scored freshman Riley Good from second base and gave UTSA a 3-2 victory against No. 9 Texas A&M in 10 innings on Tuesday night in front of 2,035 fans at Wolff Stadium. It marks the first time since 2008 that the Roadrunners (22-24) have knocked off two ranked teams in the same season.
Good reached on a fielder's choice and stole second base to set up James' second game-winning hit in the last seven contests.
Left-hander Dylan Mendoza (2-2) surrendered the final run to pick up the loss, while senior Kevin Clarke (2-4) earned the win after notching a pair of outs and leaving a runner in scoring position in the top of the 10th.
The Aggies (30-15) nearly spoiled a stellar start from freshman left-hander Michael Kraft, who dazzled over seven innings of work.
The San Antonio native struck out a career-high 10 batters on 87 pitches and had a no-hitter through five-and-two-thirds frames, but he picked up a no-decision after allowing an unearned run in the sixth. The southpaw finished strong, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the seventh.
With runners on the corners in the eighth, Andrew Collazo laid down a safety squeeze bunt that brought home Brandon Wood on a close play at at the plate to give Texas A&M a 2-1 lead.
Sophomore Ryan Dalton's run-scoring single to center with one out in the ninth allowed senior Tyler Carpenter, who reached on a base hit to lead off the panel, to score the tying run.
After junior Cody Scott allowed a one-out double in the top of the 10th, Clarke worked out of the jam to keep the game tied.
Redshirt freshman RJ Perucki singled off Mendoza to start the decisive stanza, but he was forced out after Good nearly hit into a double play on a grounder to first. Good then swiped his team-leading 16th bag of the season and James singled on a 2-0 fastball to give the Roadrunners their first win over the Aggies since March 12, 2006.
Carpenter, Dalton and James all recorded two hits each as UTSA out-hit Texas A&M, 8-6.
The Aggies used seven pitchers in the contest, including right-hander Derrick Hadley, who yielded a run on four hits and fanned six in 5.1 innings in his first career start.
UTSA begins the I-35 Rivalry Series at No. 25 Texas State (28-16, 17-7 SLC) on Friday. The series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Bobcat Field and the final two games will be played at the Bird Bath at 2 and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
