SAN ANTONIO — UTSA jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings only to see Iowa State score 11 unanswered runs and the Cyclones held off a late Roadrunners rally for a 12-9 victory on Friday night at the UTSA Classic.
Megan Low drove in three runs with her third home run of the season, while Kendall Burton also homered and scored three runs to pace UTSA (8-4). Courtney Buchman, Taylor Oberg and Jade Smith each recorded two hits for the home squad.
Meanwhile, Kelsey McFarland’s lone hit was a grand slam that jump-started the rally for Iowa State (8-2), which defeated Incarnate Word earlier in the day. Slater and Hildreth each drove in a pair of runs, while Stacy Roggentien tossed 5.2 innings in relief for the victory.
The Cyclones got on the board in the top of the first on Aly Cappaert’s one-out solo homer to left, but it did not take the Birds long to answer.
Burton led off the Roadrunners’ half of the frame with a blast to center for her fourth round-tripper of the season. UTSA then tacked on six runs in the bottom of the second after starter Kacy Freeze struck out the side in the top of the inning.
Oberg started the rally with a double to left-center field before Burton and Courtney Buchman worked one-out walks to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Oberg to race home and Low took Brianna Weilbacher’s next offering over the wall in left center for a three-run shot to push the lead to 5-1.
Vivian Tijerina walked to force Iowa State to make a pitching change and another free pass to Randee Crawford preceded Madison Kinley’s run-scoring single to right. Jade Smith capped the big inning and extended the lead to 7-1 with an RBI hit to left field.
Freeze worked a quick third inning before she ran into trouble in the fourth inning.
The Cyclones got a two-out grand slam from McFarland to start the streak of 11 unanswered runs.
The visitors tacked on five runs in the fifth against relievers Chelsea Parker and Lizzy Fox to take the lead for good before adding two more in the sixth.
Buchman singled home a run in the seventh and Burton scored on a wild pitch to pull within 12-9, but UTSA could get no closer in its first home loss of the campaign.
Parker took the loss with five runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning to fall to 5-2, while Roggentein improved to 1-1.
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Incarnate Word (1-10) and Southeastern Louisiana (4-4) at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.