SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will wrap up its seven-game home stand and open Conference USA play this weekend when it hosts Rice at Roadrunner Field. The series opener, originally scheduled for 6 p.m., has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to impending weather in the area. The final two games are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Friday’s meeting will be the 20th all-time with Rice leading the all-time series, 16-3. In the last outing, UTSA captured a 7-1 victory behind a masterful performance by then-freshman Chance Kirby. The right-hander logged his first complete game and recorded a career-best nine strikeouts with no walks.
The Roadrunners (9-7) is coming off Tuesday's 14-7 victory against I-35 rival Texas State. UTSA used a seven-run fifth to lead them to victory. Meanwhile, Andre Shewcraft earned his third win of the season behind 2.1 innings of work, where he gave up two runs on five hits.
Offensively, UTSA is led by Skyler Valentine’s .344 batting average. The sophomore leads the team in hits (22), runs (16), home runs (2), RBIs (15) and slugging percentage (.547).
On the mound, Kirby leads the staff with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings of play. He’s third on staff with 17 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .222 average at the plate.
Rice (8-8) heads to the Alamo City winners of three of its last five games, but the Owls are coming off a 6-4 loss to No. 7 TCU this past Tuesday. TCU came back late in the game to tie the score in the eighth and pushed a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to hold off the Owls.
Ford Proctor leads Rice's season stat sheet with a .346 batting average. The 6-foot infielder leads the team in hits (20), doubles (3) and RBIs (10). Jackson Parthasarathy leads the Owls on the bump, as he has compiled a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 innings of action. He’s 1-0 on the season in six appearances and is holding opponents to a .180 average.
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