SAN ANTONIO — UTSA hit 11 home runs and pounded out 22 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of Houston Baptist by scores of 10-6 and 12-4 on Wednesday night at Roadrunner Field.
Megan Low led the Roadrunners (15-17) by going 6-for-8, including a season-high four hits in game two, with three home runs and four RBIs, while Jori Fox also blasted three round-trippers. Low’s Conference USA-leading home run total now sits at 14 and she upped her batting average to a team-high .387.
In the circle, Chelsea Parker picked up a save in the first game before earning a win in the nightcap. The freshman did not allow an earned run and scattered four hits in her 3.2 innings on the night. Nicole Merrill grabbed the win in the opener after going 6.1 frames with three earned runs and six strikeouts, while Kacy Freeze tossed the final two frames of game two and struck out four.
Meanwhile, Kirsten Schwirtlich drove in four runs in game one to help pace the Huskies, who dropped to 9-16 on the season.
UTSA got on the board first in the opener with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Vivian Tijerina, but fell behind 4-1 after two innings.
However, the hit parade began in the bottom of the third when Low, Fox, Tijerina and Courtney Buchman all hit solo homers to give the home squad a 5-4 lead.
Fox added her second blast of the contest in the fourth for a 6-4 advantage, only to see Houston Baptist tie the score with two more in the fifth.
But UTSA would regain the upper hand with two runs in the bottom of the panel on an error before adding two more in the sixth on a homer by Tess Soefje.
The Huskies threatened in the top of the seventh and loaded the bases with one out, but Parker needed just two pitches to seal the 10-6 win with a double play.
In the evening session it was more of the same, as the Roadrunners scored in all four innings and added five round-trippers for the 12-4 run-rule victory.
Low took the first pitch of the first inning over the wall in right-center for a quick 1-0 lead, but Houston Baptist took a 2-1 advantage in the second on a two-RBI single through the left side from Holly Webb.
UTSA would not stay down for long and grabbed the lead for good with four more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Sproul jumped on the first pitch of the frame for her first homer of the contest and the Roadrunners would go on to score a run on an error, and plated runs on hits from Fox and Tijerina to push the lead to 5-2.
Low doubled home another run in the third and UTSA countered a Houston Baptist score in the fourth with six more to build a 12-3 lead.
The six-run fourth inning started with three consecutive hits, punctuated by a three-run homer from Sproul. After two strikeouts, Low blasted her second of the contest before Fox’s towering two-run shot to left field.
The Huskies added a run in the top of the fifth, but could not score again to avoid the run-rule defeat.
UTSA will be back in action this weekend when it returns to C-USA action March 29-30 with a three-game set at Southern Miss (14-16, 5-4 C-USA). First pitch of Saturday’s doubleheader is set for 1 p.m.