BEAUMONT — UTSA stretched its winning streak to five games with a doubleheader sweep of Lamar by scores of 7-2 and 9-1 on Tuesday at the Lamar Softball Complex.
Madison Kinley had three hits including a double and two-run homer for the Roadrunners (26-11), who piled up a season-high 16 hits in game two. Taylor Oberg pushed her hitting streak to 10 games as she went 4-for-7 with a double and two RBIs, while UTSA pitchers did not allow an earned run in 14 innings of work.
The Roadrunners never trailed in either game against the Lady Cardinals (17-15) and the visitors jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings of the opener.
Vivian Tijerina crushed a two-out, two-run homer in the first inning after Courtney Buchman singled. The blast was her seventh of the season and UTSA used another two-run shot in the second to open up a 4-0 lead. Kinley’s round-tripper was her fifth of the campaign before Megan Low’s RBI single extended the advantage to 5-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lamar registered a pair of unearned runs to trim the lead to 5-2, but the Roadrunners got those back with a pair of their own in the sixth.
Randee Crawford opened the sixth with her Conference USA-leading 13th homer of the spring before Kinley’s double off the wall in left. Oberg then dropped a single into right field to score the game’s final run and Kacy Freeze closed the door on the Lady Cardinals.
Kelsi Ott tossed the first four innings of the contest and she allowed four hits and two unearned runs with five strikeouts to improve to 3-0. Meanwhile, Freeze threw three spotless innings with five punchouts of her own en route to her second save of the campaign.
Kendall Burton started game two with a single to right-center field and advanced to third on an error. Buchman followed with an RBI single for a quick 1-0 lead in the first.
The Lady Cardinals struck back thanks to a leadoff walk and UTSA error for an unearned run of their own to tie the score 1-1.
The score remained tied until the Roadrunners got back-to-back triples from Jade Smith and Burton with two outs in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. UTSA then stretched the lead with three runs in the fifth and four in the seventh for a commanding 9-1 cushion.
Crawford lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for a run in the fifth before the Roadrunners got a run on a throwing error and another on Oberg’s two-out double off the wall in center. With a 5-1 lead in the seventh, Erica Sanchez recorded her first collegiate RBI and Buchman tripled home a pair of runs with two outs. Angelica Niño capped the scoring with an RBI single to left field.
Lizzy Fox came on to close out the game and yielded a walk before she retired the side. Nicole Merrill took the win and she improved to 7-5 with an unearned run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts before Chelsea Parker tossed two perfect innings of relief.
UTSA will return to the diamond at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday, April 7, when they travel to College Station for a 6:30 p.m. matchup at No. 23 Texas A&M (25-9).