HOUSTON — The UTSA bats woke up late in the game, but the Roadrunners' rally came up short and Rice notched a 6-5 victory in Sunday's rubber game of this weekend's Conference USA series at Reckling Park.
Rice starter Willy Amador kept UTSA off the board through the first five innings before the Roadrunners (22-20, 10-11 C-USA) put up three runs in the sixth. Amador went down as the pitcher of record in his 5.2 innings of work. The right-hander fanned four batters, walked two and allowed three runs on three hits.
UTSA used a pair of home runs in the top of the sixth to cut Rice's lead in half at 6-3. The Owls scored early with four runs in the opening stanza and lone runs in the second and fifth.
Jesse Baker swung on the first pitch he saw and homered over the wall in left center with two outs. Kevin Markham then drew a walk and Bryan Arias followed with a two-run long ball for the third run of the frame.
The Roadrunners slowly chipped away at the Rice (18-26, 9-12 C-USA) lead with lone runs in the seventh and eighth.
UTSA hit its third home run of the game in the seventh after Trent Bowles led off with a solo home run to left center. It was the second homer for Bowles the series.
In the eighth, Markham crossed home plate for the second time in the day after he reached on a two-out single. Arias' walk moved Markham up a base and he was brought home on Ben Brookover's RBI single.
The top of the UTSA lineup registered six of the team's seven hits with Brookover going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Arias, Baker and Bowles' only hits of the game were home runs.
UTSA will return to the friendly confines of Roadrunner Field on Tuesday to host I-35 rival Texas State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
