SAN ANTONIO — UTSA opens its fourth season in Conference USA on Friday with a three-game series at Marshall. The weekend series will be played at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va.
The Roadrunners head into the weekend off a tough series at nationally-ranked Texas Tech. UTSA took one out of three against the Red Raiders off a dramatic two-out, three-run double by Mason George that put the Roadrunners up, 3-2.
Through non-conference play, UTSA sits ninth in the C-USA standings with an 8-7 record, one spot behind Marshall (8-6). UTSA owns the second-best batting average in the league with a .311 clip and ranks in the top three in seven other offensive categories.
Redshirt junior Kevin Markham top the Roadrunners season stats, batting .400 on the season with team bests in hits (26), runs scored (18), doubles (10), triples (3), total bases (45) and slugging percentage (.692).
On the mound, right-hander Tyler Giovanoni leads the Roadrunners pitching staff with a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 innings of work. The Schertz native has made five appearances, including one start, and owns a 1-0 record. Giovanoni is holding opponents to a .176 average and is second on the staff with 16 strikeouts.
Marshall hosts UTSA in the midst of a seven-game home stand. The Thundering Herd had its Tuesday night contest against Ohio postponed due to inclement weather in the area. Marshall took two of three games from Niagara last weekend in Huntington.
As a team, Marshall is batting .252, best for 11th in the league. Will Ray leads the Thundering Herd with a .371 batting average and he is tied for third in hits (13) and ranks second in runs scored (12). Ray is slugging .543 with a .532 on base percentage.
On the other side of the ball, Marshall has four pitchers with a perfect 0.00 ERA, mostly with just one appearance this season. Wade Martin is the Herd's top starter with a 2.89 ERA in four appearances and 18.2 innings of work. He leads the staff with 21 strikeouts and 11 walks and is 1-1 on the season.
UTSA leads the all-time series, 6-3.
