SAN ANTONIO — UTSA pounded out 18 hits and rallied for victories in both games of a doubleheader against visiting UTEP by scores of 7-3 and 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
Randee Crawford led the Roadrunners (29-14, 11-5 C-USA) with three hits and four RBIs on the day, while Kendall Burton collected three hits, including a double and a triple, to go along with an RBI and three runs scored. In the circle, Kacy Freeze picked up the victory in game two and she struck out eight in 8.2 innings of work.
Meanwhile, Courtney Clayton paced the Miners (13-31, 8-9 C-USA) as she went 4-for-8 at the plate with a homer and four RBIs.
In the opener, UTSA scored six of its seven runs with two outs and it went 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position to rally for a 7-3 victory.
UTSA opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Courtney Buchman got the offense going with two outs on a solo homer for a 1-0 lead. The blast to left-center field was the 10th of the season for Buchman, who became the third UTSA player to reach double digits.
Megan Low, who went 2-for-3 in the game, followed with a double and she would come around to score following hits by Vivian Tijerina and Crawford for a 2-0 cushion.
Freeze took a perfect game into the top of the fifth, but ran into trouble after recording the first out of the frame. A walk and back-to-back hits sliced the lead to 2-1 and Freeze got out of the jam with a fielder’s choice and strikeout.
However, the Miners jumped ahead 3-2 with a two runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and RBI single from Kiki Pepi.
But UTSA rallied for five runs in the bottom of the panel to take the lead for good.
Madison Kinley tied the score with a one-out, solo homer to right field. With two outs, Jade Smith singled through the right side and she came around to score the go-ahead run on Burton’s Conference USA-leading seventh triple of the season.
Buchman walked on four pitches before Low crushed a three-run homer to push the advantage to 7-3. The blast was her league-leading 14th round tripper of the spring and it gave the home squad a lead that it would not relinquish.
Reliever Nicole Merrill allowed a pair of hits in the top of the seventh, but got a pair of fly outs to end the contest and preserve the four-run victory. The sophomore improved to 8-6 after she allowed three hits in 1.2 frames of relief.
UTEP struck first in game two when Tahla Wade and Clayton opened the top of the first with a double and two-run homer, respectively, for a 2-0 lead. UTSA matched that effort with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame on a hit by Tijerina and a bases-loaded walk to Tess Soefje.
The game was delayed by lightning for 53 minutes before the start of the bottom of the third and after the stoppage, Low nearly put the home team on top with another homer. However, right fielder Ashley Eldridge robbed the league-leader at the wall and the Miners carried that momentum into the top of the fourth, where they took a 4-2 advantage on Clayton’s two-RBI single.
But once again, the Roadrunners were able to rally and tie the score as Crawford dropped a two-RBI hit of her own to right-center field in the fifth. The C-USA RBI leader stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh after Burton opened the panel with a double and the Miners walked Low and Tijerina to load the bases.
The sophomore lined the second pitch of the at-bat off the wall in center field to drive in the winning run. Freeze pitched the final 3.1 innings and allowed just one hit to improve to 9-3.
UTSA will look to sweep the three game series when the teams conclude the set at 1 p.m. on Sunday.