SAN ANTONIO — Randee Crawford and Rylee Rodriguez each homered and drove in three runs to help UTSA close its annual UTSA Classic with a 10-2 run-rule victory against Incarnate Word in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners (6-8) bounced back from a pair of losses on Saturday with 13 hits, including three home runs and a double. Celeste Loughman went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, while fellow freshman Lindsey Stewart finished with two hits, two runs and a pair of stolen bases.
The Cardinals (4-10) jumped ahead in the top of the first after a hit, a stolen base and another single plated the game's first run.
However, UTSA put up four runs in each of the first two innings for an 8-1 lead and it never looked back.
Stewart started the bottom of the first with a single and she swiped second before Loughman picked up the first of her three hits to put runners on the corners. Loughman then stole second and an errant throw to the bag allowed Stewart to score and tie the game, 1-1.
Rodriguez wasted no time in extending the UTSA lead as she crushed a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left for a 3-1 advantage. The blast was the freshman's third homer of the week and her team-leading fifth of the season.
Three batters later, Bailee Baldwin launched a solo homer to right field for her second round-tripper of the spring to cap the four-run outburst.
The Roadrunners came back an inning later and put up four more runs as the home squad loaded the bases with singles by Erica Sanchez, Angelica Niño and Stewart. Rodriguez lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to score a run before Crawford cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run shot to right-center.
The homer was the 38th of Crawford's career, which moved her past head coach Michelle Cheatham (McElyea) and into seventh place on the school's all-time chart.
The 8-1 cushion was more than enough for pitcher Lizzy Fox, who would allow just the one earned run with a pair of strikeouts in five innings of work.
Incarnate Word got an unearned run in the fourth that the Roadrunners answered as a grounder from Baldwin pushed home a run for a 9-2 advantage in the bottom of the frame. An inning later, UTSA completed the run-rule victory when Loughman's third hit of the day scored Sanchez to make the margin 10-2.
Fox improved to 4-6 in the circle and the Roadrunners earned their fourth victory of the week.
UTSA will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 when it will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-10) at Roadrunner Field.
