SAN ANTONIO — Courtney Buchman and Vivian Tijerina each homered twice, including a pair of solo homers in the bottom of the seventh to rally UTSA to a 7-6 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday night at Roadrunner Field.
The pair each went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs for the Roadrunners, who improved to 8-3 with their home-opening victory. Tess Soefje also crushed a round-tripper for UTSA as it scored all but one run via a homer. In the circle, Chelsea Parker allowed a run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts in relief to improve to 5-1.
Meanwhile, Lindsey Lyles hit a grand slam and Brittney Morse connected on a two-run shot to provide the offense for the Islanders (0-10-1). Liz Carter took the loss with seven runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings.
Morse put the visitors on the board in the top of the first with her first homer of the season after Jessica Mendez reached with an infield single.
However, the Roadrunners struck back with four runs off three round-trippers in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.
Buchman got UTSA rolling with a solo shot to right-center to cut the deficit in half, 2-1. Megan Low followed with a single to left and Tijerina put the Roadrunners ahead with a two-run homer to center field. Two batters later, Tess Soefje capped the inning with a solo homer of her own to left-center that pushed the advantage to 4-2.
UTSA starter Kacy Freeze and Carter both settled in and did not allow a run for the next three innings.
However, Freeze ran into trouble in the top of the fifth and exited with the bases loaded and no outs.
Parker nearly got out of the jam with a pair of strikeout and an out at home plate, but Lyles connected on a grand slam to put the Islanders ahead 6-4.
Jade Smith helped UTSA start to rally in the bottom of the panel with an infield single and she was able to advance to second on a throwing error. Buchman then lined her third double of the season down the left field line that allowed Smith to score. Low then walked with one out, but Carter was able to limit the damage with a pair of fly-ball outs to end the threat.
After Parker escaped a jam in the top of the seventh, UTSA trailed 6-5 and it was down to its final three outs.
With one out, Buchman knotted the score with her second homer of the night and fourth of the season. Low then lined a single to the wall in left-center, but was cut down trying to stretch the play into a double for the second out.
Tijerina fell behind in the count, 1-2, before she smacked her fourth round-tripper of the season, which cleared the wall in left to give the home squad a walk-off 7-6 victory.
The Roadrunners will be back in action this weekend when it hosts the UTSA Classic. UTSA will open tournament play with a 5:30 p.m. contest on Friday against Iowa State (6-2).