SAN ANTONIO — UTSA's two-out rally in the ninth inning was not enough for the Roadrunners and Old Dominion notched an 11-5 victory at Roadrunner Field on Saturday afternoon.
UTSA (10-11, 1-4 C-USA) used a total of five pitchers, including starter Tyler Giovanoni who took the loss. The right-hander went 4.2 innings and gave up four runs on six hits and fanned four batters.
Old Dominion outhit UTSA for the second consecutive day by a 14-8 margin. The win keeps the Monarchs undefeated in Conference USA action with a 5-0 mark and improves them to 19-4 overall.
After UTSA scored two early runs in the opening stanza, the Roadrunners went quietly up until the bottom of the ninth.
J.T. Gilmore began the two-out rally on a single to right field. Chris Estrada took his fifth hit by pitch of the season and moved Gilmore over one base. With runners on first and second, C.J. Pickering placed a ball in left center and that scored Gilmore for the first run of the inning. Tony Beam, who had his only hit of the game in the ninth, hit one into center field and scored Estrada. A walk to Geonte Jackson loaded the bases and the final run of the game crossed home plate on a fielding error by the Monarchs' third baseman that allowed Pickering to score.
ODU remains the only undefeated team in C-USA on Saturday after scoring multiple runs in three of its five scoring innings.
The Roadrunners jumped to the early 2-0 lead after senior Jesse Baker blasted a first-pitch leadoff home run over the center field wall. Bryan Arias scored the second run of the inning after a fielding error by the Monarchs left fielder allowed the sophomore to make his way across home.
Giovanoni managed to keep Old Dominion off the board through the first three innings before the Monarchs produced a single run in the fourth. A three-run home run in the fifth followed with back-to-back walk/wild pitch combinations added another five runs for the visiting team, 6-2.
In the eighth, ODU squeaked out another run and ended Saturday's contest with a four-run ninth inning. Lefty starter Adam Bainbridge earned the win for the Monarchs after going eight innings and allowing two runs on five hits.
The series finale is set for noon on Sunday.
