MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Randee Crawford’s solo homer in the top of the seventh broke a 7-7 tie and helped lift UTSA to a 9-7 win and finish off a three-game sweep of Middle Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.
Taylor Oberg went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for the Roadrunners (24-11, 8-3 C-USA), who picked up their second-ever sweep of a Conference USA opponent and their first this season. Madison Kinley notched a pair of doubles, while Lizzy Fox tossed 3.2 innings of relief to pick up her first collegiate victory.
UTSA went 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position and scored seven of its nine runs with two outs.
The Roadrunners jumped ahead of the Blue Raiders (12-17, 1-11 C-USA) with a two-out run in the top of the first. Courtney Buchman walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Vivian Tijerina’s two-out single to center gave the visitors the early advantage.
Middle Tennessee tied the score with a run in the bottom of the third and each team came away with five runs in the fourth for a 6-6 score.
In the UTSA half of the fourth, Tess Soefje reached base via a hit-by-pitch for the seventh time in the series and Oberg, who went 8-for-13 (.615) with eight RBIs in the sweep, grounded a one-out single up the middle. After a fielder’s choice forced Soefje out at third, Burton tripled to deep center field to plate Oberg and Jade Smith. Buchman followed with an RBI triple down the right-field line and Megan Low capped the inning with a booming two-run homer to left-center field.
The big half-inning gave the Roadrunners a 6-1 lead, but the Blue Raiders used four hits and two UTSA errors to record five runs of their own to even the ledger.
With two outs in the fifth, Kinley and Oberg reclaimed the lead for UTSA with back-to-back doubles. However, Alma Cortez tied the score again at 7-7 with a solo homer off Fox in the bottom of the sixth.
UTSA fought back once again and took the lead for good when Crawford opened the seventh with her team-leading 12th homer of the season. The towering drive to left just stayed fair and after Kinley’s second double of the day, Oberg capped the scoring with a single up the middle to put the Roadrunners ahead 9-7.
Fox then worked a one-two-three bottom of the seventh to finish the contest and the three-game sweep. The freshman allowed just three hits and a run with two strikeouts in her 3.2 frames of relief.
UTSA will return to the diamond and continue its 11-game road swing in a doubleheader at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, at Lamar (17-13).