SAN ANTONIO — UTSA rallied from an early 4-2 deficit by scoring four unanswered runs in its final five at-bats and the Roadrunners earned a 6-4 victory to complete a sweep of New Mexico State on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (28-22, 12-11 WAC), which clinched a spot in the league tournament with the win, plated a run in the fourth and scored three times in the sixth to overtake the Aggies (27-24, 12-12 WAC) for good.
Matt Sims (4-2), who entered the game with two outs in the fourth, limited New Mexico State to just two hits over his four innings of work to earn the win. Meanwhile, Jordan Pacheco came on with one out in the eighth and retired five of the six batters he faced to earn his first save of the season.
UTSA had a 2-1 lead after the first inning, thanks to RBI singles by Mike Warren and Tony Ramirez.
However, the Aggies sent eight men to the plate during the second and scored three times to take a 4-2 advantage.
The Roadrunners picked up a solo tally in the fourth when Rodney Garza scored on a wild pitch by Casey Collins.
Two frames later, the Birds received a charge from RJ Perucki, who belted a solo home run over the wall in left to tie the game at four.
UTSA went on to send nine batters to the plate and it scored two more times in the stanza. Garza hit a sacrifice fly, which sent Warren across the dish, and Horacio Correa III also picked up a run-scoring single.
Sims and Pacheco then combined to allow only two New Mexico State hitters to reach base the rest of the way and complete the Roadrunners' first conference sweep of the season.
UTSA collected seven hits in the contest. Perucki was 2-for-3 with his team-leading 10th home run, while Ramirez picked up a pair of singles and drove in a run. Garza chipped in with a double and an RBI.
Collins (5-5) yielded three runs on two hits over his two innings.
Prior to the game, the Roadrunners honored their five seniors – Garza, Andrew Keplinger, Daniel Rockett, Clint Sharp and Jake Wood.
UTSA will play its final non-conference game of the campaign on Tuesday, May 14, at Baylor (25-23). First pitch is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m.