SAN ANTONIO — Bailee Baldwin went 5-for-7 with a double, homer and five RBIs to lead UTSA to a doubleheader sweep of visiting Sam Houston State by scores of 10-3 and 1-0 on Wednesday night at Roadrunner Field.
Baldwin registered season highs with three hits and five RBIs in the opener for the Roadrunners (16-25), while Randee Crawford added a three-run shot to go along with three hits in the games. In the circle, UTSA pitchers did not allow an earned run as Lizzy Fox and Nicole Merrill combined to strike out six in 14 innings.
In the opener, the Bearkats got on the board in the top of the first with three unearned runs on a pair of UTSA errors, but the Roadrunners would not allow another run while scoring the game's next 10 runs, eight of which came with two outs.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Crawford and Chelsea Thomas singled before Tess Soefje loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Baldwin cut into the deficit with a two-run single to center field that brought UTSA within 3-2.
An inning later, Crawford gave the Roadrunners the lead for good with a three-run homer after Stephanie Money and Angelica Nino opened the inning with singles. Crawford's blast, her team-leading 12th of the season, also came with two outs and went over the wall in left for the 5-3 advantage.
In the third, Baldwin rocketed a two-out, two-run homer to right-center field for her second blast of the season to extend the lead to 7-3. The freshman the dropped a two-out single down the right-field line in the fourth to plate pinch runner Madison Kinley and collect her final RBI of the contest.
With an 8-3 cushion in the fifth, Hailey Garza picked up her first collegiate hit and RBI with a single to left that brought two more runs home for the Roadrunners.
The 10-3 advantage was more than enough for pitcher Lizzy Fox, who went the distance and retired eight consecutive batters at one point. The sophomore scattered eight hits to go along with a pair of strikeouts to improve to 7-8 on the season.
In game two, Nicole Merrill tossed her first shutout of the season, as the Roadrunners completed the sweep with a 1-0 victory.
The only run of the contest came in the bottom of the first with the help of two Bearkats errors. Kendall Burton laid down a perfect bunt single and then used her speed to beat a play at second on a grounder from Crawford. A hurried throw to first went into the Sam Houston State dugout to advance both runners another base.
A wild throw from third baseman Breanna Homer on a grounder from Soefje allowed Burton to score and Merrill made sure the one-run advantage held up.
The junior retired the first 10 batters in the contest before Dani Allen broke up the perfect game with one out in the fourth. Merrill worked around the Bearkats' biggest threat of the night in the fifth when she got a fly out to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
UTSA had opportunities to extend its lead in the fourth and sixth when it put runners on second and third with less than two outs, but could not score.
Merrill yielded a one-out walk and single in the top of the seventh, but got pinch hitter Jennie Kieval to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the contest and preserve the 1-0 victory. She improved her record to 3-5 by scattering six hits in seven frames with four strikeouts and the shutout was her first since an April 19, 2015, run-rule win over UTEP.
UTSA will return to Conference USA play this weekend when it travels to Ruston, La., for a three-game series at Louisiana Tech (21-15, 3-6 C-USA).
