SAN ANTONIO — Winners of three of its last four games, the UTSA softball team will continue Conference USA play with a three-game series at North Texas this weekend in Denton. First pitch in a Saturday doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. at Lovelace Stadium followed by a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Roadrunners are coming off a 6-5 comeback win at Lamar on Tuesday night in Beaumont. Randee Crawford's RBI-single through the right side of the infield plated Celeste Loughman with the winning run in the top of the seventh inning, completing a rally from a 5-4 deficit entering the final frame.
UTSA, 12-17 overall, took two of three games against UAB last weekend in the first home league set of the season to improve to 2-4 in conference.
Offensively, the Roadrunners are batting .304 as a team, which ranks third in C-USA. Lindsey Stewart leads the team with a .404 batting average (8th C-USA), while Celeste Loughman (.381), Rylee Rodriguez (.362), Hailey Garza (.333), Taylor Oberg (.319) and Angelica Nino (.310) also are hitting above .300. Rodriguez leads the Birds in doubles (10), home runs (8) and RBIs (32).
In the circle, Lizzy Fox leads the squad with nine wins, a .389 earned-run average and 91.2 innings pitched, while Nicole Merrill has a team-best 35 strikeouts to go along with three victories and a 4.36 ERA.
North Texas enters the weekend series 14-13 overall and 3-3 in the league. The Mean Green have dropped four consecutive contests including a road sweep at the hands of FIU last weekend in Miami.
Kelli Schkade leads the team with a .398 batting average, while Lacy Gregory is hitting at a .353 clip with a team-high 26 RBIs. Stacey Underwood owns a 8-5 record, 2.44 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 18 appearances.
UTSA holds a 10-9 edge in the all-time series with North Texas, including a 7-4 mark as members of C-USA. The Roadrunners swept the Mean Green last season in San Antonio.
