MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — UTSA scored 24 runs and pounded out 26 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of Middle Tennessee by scores of 11-8 and 13-5 on Saturday afternoon.
Taylor Oberg went 5-for-9 with four extra-base hits on the day, while Kacy Freeze recorded a win and a save in the circle to lead the Roadrunners (23-11, 7-3 C-USA). Oberg tripled in the opener and tied a school-record with three doubles to go along with a career-high six RBIs in the nightcap. In addition, Megan Low and Kendall Burton also had five hits apiece, while Madison Kinley recorded four hits.
Low went 3-for-5 with an RBI in the opener as UTSA jumped out to an 11-4 lead and it held off a late charge to secure the victory.
The Roadrunners broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third as they scored three runs with two outs. UTSA loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single from Low before Randee Crawford walked to force in a run. Low raced home on a wild pitch and Kinley extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single up the middle.
However, Middle Tennessee (12-16, 1-10 C-USA) rallied for four runs, also with two outs, in the bottom of the inning on RBI hits from Morgan Harris and Megan Griffith along with an error.
UTSA went on to score three runs each in the fourth and sixth before adding two more in the top of the seventh for an 11-4 advantage.
Burton doubled and scored on Low’s single up the middle in the fourth. A pair of errors on the play allowed Courtney Buchman to score all the way from first base and Low would touch home on an illegal pitch. In the sixth, Vivian Tijerina followed a single from Low with a two-run homer to left and Crawford made it back-to-back round-trippers with a solo shot of her own.
Finally, Oberg tripled to start the seventh and Burton drove her and Jade Smith in with a single up the middle for an 11-4 lead.
The Blue Raiders plated four runs in the bottom of the frame, but Freeze came on to get the final out and record her first save of the campaign.
Chelsea Parker improved to 8-3 as she allowed three earned runs on seven hits in four innings of relief.
Middle Tennessee started off the second contest with an unearned run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Tess Soefje evened the score with a solo homer to open the second inning only to see the Blue Raiders take a 3-1 advantage with two more runs the following frame.
However, UTSA scored in each of the final four innings to grab a commanding lead and sweep the doubleheader with the 13-5 victory.
Soefje reached base to open the fourth after getting hit by a pitch, which was one of three that she took in the contest. Kinley and Oberg followed with doubles to tie the score, 3-3. Burton’s single to left-center field gave UTSA the lead for good and Buchman grounded a single off third base to plate another run for a 5-3 cushion.
The lead grew to 9-3 with four more runs in the fifth. Again it was Soefje who started the inning with a hit-by-pitch and Kinley reached via a wild pitch on a third strike. Pinch runner Lindsie Knowles and Kinley touched home on Oberg’s second double of the game before Burton and Low made it 9-3 with a pair of sacrifice flies.
Middle Tennessee cut into the lead with two runs in the bottom of the panel, but Oberg got those runs back in the sixth with her third two-run double. UTSA capped the scoring in the seventh when Tijerina punched a run-scoring single up the middle and pinch runner Lauren White scored on an error.
Freeze gave up a single in the bottom of the seventh, but she retired the side to close out the victory. The junior went the distance and gave up four earned runs on 12 hits with four walks and nine strikeouts as she improved to 7-3.
UTSA will look for the series sweep when the teams meet at noon on Sunday.