SAN ANTONIO — UTSA continued play at the UTSA Classic on Saturday evening and dropped contests against Rutgers, 5-0, and Colorado State, 6-4, at Roadrunner Field.
In the opener, Alyssa Landrith tossed a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts to help lift the Scarlet Knights (2-2) to a 5-0 victory. Rutgers scored a run in the second, three in the fourth and one in the fifth to back Landrith’s gem.
The lefty retired the first 14 batters that she faced before Jolene Graham’s infield hit, which proved to be the only knock for the Roadrunners (4-4).
In the final game of the day, the Rams (7-2) grabbed an early lead with a run in the first before UTSA jumped ahead in the bottom of the second on Tess Soefje’s three-run homer.
A one-out double from Siera Sproul and Graham’s single through the left side set the table for Soefje, who hit her first collegiate blast to give the home squad a 3-1 lead.
However, the advantage did not last as Colorado State came back with a five-run third inning to take the lead for good. The rally was highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Danielle Wikre, whose three-run shot gave the Rams the upper hand, and Jaelyn Manzares.
Reliever Nicole Merrill ended the Colorado State rally and blanked the visitors the rest of the way. The freshman tied a season high with seven strikeouts in just 4.2 innings of work and, at one point, retired five consecutive batters on strikes.
UTSA cut into the deficit with a run in the sixth on Jori Fox’s RBI single to center, but the Roadrunners could not get closer in the 6-4 defeat.
Molly Randle earned the win and moved to 2-0 on the season with three strikeouts in five innings, while Holly Reinke tossed two scoreless frames for her first save.
The Roadrunners will conclude tournament play at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday when they face Oklahoma State (6-3).