SAN ANTONIO — C.J. Pickering had a career-high three hits, including his first-ever home run, and Nolan Trabanino improved to 6-1 on the season to lead UTSA to a 7-2 victory against Marshall on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (24-11, 10-4 C-USA), which entered the contest in a first-place tie with Southern Mississippi and UAB in the Conference USA standings, won for the fifth time in six games behind a balanced offensive effort that saw five different players score runs, including two apiece by Pickering and RJ Perucki.
That was more than enough for Trabanino, who surrendered just one run on six hits in his seven-plus innings of work.
John Welborn put the Roadrunners on the board in the third with a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Mitchell Matulia to score from third.
Two innings later, Pickering his first career long ball to give UTSA a 2-0 lead. The freshman launched a towering drive out to left that cleared the netting behind the wall.
The Birds used the long ball again in the sixth to gain a 3-0 advantage with Perucki pulling a ball out to left for his second homer of the season.
After Marshall (13-20, 7-9 C-USA) plated a run in the top of the eighth to draw to within two, the floodgates opened for UTSA in the next half inning.
Horacio Correa III drilled an RBI single through the middle to score Pickering and Mike Warren earned a bases loaded walk to push the Roadrunners' lead to 5-1. Tony Ramirez then snuck a single just inside the bag at third and into left field to add two more runs and further outdistance the Thundering Herd, 7-1.
Ramirez finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk.
Aaron Bossi added a run-scoring ground out in the ninth before Wesley Cox entered to strike out Robert Fajardo looking to end the game.
UTSA will look for the series sweep at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.