SAN ANTONIO — Kelsi Ott allowed just one earned run in seven innings and Kendall Burton’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh lifted UTSA to a 3-2 victory against Charlotte in Sunday’s series finale at Roadrunner Field.
Vivian Tijerina went 2-for-3 with a double, her fifth homer of the season and two RBIs to lead the Roadrunners (19-8, 4-2 C-USA), who have won both of their Conference USA series’ this spring. Ott surrendered just three hits and two walks to go along with a season-high six strikeouts en route to her second win of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Lexi Betancourt dropped to 7-8 after she allowed three runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts for the 49ers (12-10, 1-2 C-USA). Samantha Slade led the offense with two runs scored, including her first home run of the season.
UTSA got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first on Tijerina’s double off the wall in left. Courtney Buchman worked a one-out walk and scored all the way from first on the senior’s two-out shot that nearly left yard.
Slade knotted the score in the top of the third with her solo homer to center, but Tijerina matched that with a round-tripper of her own an inning later to push the home squad to a 2-1 advantage.
However, Charlotte got a two-out infield hit in the seventh from Natalie Capone to even the score.
In the bottom of the inning, Madison Kinley got the rally started with a one-out single through the right side and Taylor Oberg took a four-pitch walk to put the winning run in scoring position. Betancourt nearly escaped the jam with a strikeout, but Burton lined a 2-2 pitch up the middle to plate Kinley for the 3-2 win.
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Monday, March 16, when they host Stephen F. Austin (7-13) in a 7 p.m. tilt at Roadrunner Field. The game was moved due to forecasted inclement weather in the Alamo City.