SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA softball team will make the short drive down IH-37 to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Chapman Field.
The Roadrunners (17-26) and Islanders (7-28) will meet for the second time this season and 53rd time overall. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi recorded a 3-2 victory in the last meeting on March 1 in San Antonio, its third win in a row against UTSA. The Roadrunners were winners of seven straight meetings in 2013-15 before a pair of setbacks last season. UTSA holds a 15-11 edge in games played in Corpus Christi.
UTSA is looking to bounce back from a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Southern Miss on Saturday in Hattiesburg and the Golden Eagles took two of three games in the Conference USA series. The Roadrunners have played just three non-conference contests in the last month, with a 6-5 road win at Lamar on March 21 before home losses to Texas (9-1) on March 29 and Houston Baptist (5-3/9 innings) on April 4.
A trio of freshmen pace a UTSA offense that is hitting .304 as a team.
Lindsey Stewart leads the way with a .407 batting average, 61hits, 27 runs and 16 stolen bases. Celeste Loughman is hitting .370 with 57 hits, 26 runs and 14 swipes. Rylee Rodriguez has the top power numbers with 11 doubles, 10 home runs and 38 RBIs while hitting .304.
Meanwhile, Bailee Baldwin carries a six-game hitting streak into Tuesday's contest and she has left the yard in her last four outings. The sophomore is batting .312 with nine round-trippers and 25 RBIs.
In the circle, Nicole Merrill (6-8) owns a team-best 4.18 earned-run average and 61 strikeouts, while Lizzy Fox has a team-high 11 wins, a 4.24 ERA and 36 Ks.
The Islanders are batting just .192 as a team and are led by Mackinzee Griebel, who is hitting .293 with 27 hits and seven stolen bases. Lacey Boyd has a .280 batting average and .387 slugging percentage and Liz Carter is 6-14 with a 3.75 ERA and 111 strikeouts, while Kandace Johnson is 1-14 with a 5.08 ERA and 39 strikeouts.
