SAN ANTONIO – Following back-to-back home tournaments, the UTSA softball team heads to Houston for its first road test of the season at the Hilton Plaza Invitational this weekend.
The action will start with a matchup against UNLV at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. UTSA will then face Yale and Syracuse on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. The Roadrunners close the event with a second contest against UNLVU at 11:30 a.m. and a game against host, Houston at 2 p.m.
Live stats for all games and a live stream for UTSA's game against Houston will be available at goUTSA.com
The Roadrunners (6-2) are coming off a 4-1 weekend at their annual UTSA Tournament. In the tournament UTSA routed Lamar, Missouri State and Prairie View A&M. On the weekend, Roadrunners piled up 35 hits, including six homeruns.
Overall, UTSA has a trio of players hitting .348 or better in Celeste Loughman, Ashlynn Walls and Bailee Baldwin. The three have combined for 15 RBI, seven home runs, 29 hits, 21 runs scored and seven doubles. In the circle, freshman Madison Nelson leads UTSA with a 1.72 ERA, giving up just five earned runs with 20.1 innings pitched and a 2-0 record.
Scouting UNLV
Through two weeks, the Rebels sit at 8-3. Over the weekend, UNLV went 4-2 at the Marucci Desert Classic with wins over Idaho State, Buffalo, South Dakota and Seattle and losses to UTEP and Hawaii. At the plate, junior Myranda Bueno leads the team with a .441 batting average and 15 hits and heads into the Houston Invitational with a 10-game hitting streak. In the circle, senior Janine Petmecky guides the team with a 1.27 ERA and a team-high 21 strikeouts.
Scouting Yale
The Bulldogs have not played a game this season and finished the 2017 slate with a 17-28 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the Ivy League. Senior Francesca Casalino and junior Shelby Kennedy are Yale's top returners at the plate, hitting .351 and .336, respectively, last spring and combining for 78 hits, 32 RBI and 43 runs scored. In the circle, the Bulldogs have two experienced pitchers back in junior Terra Jerpbak and Casalino. Jerpbak's 4.32 ERA in 2017 was a team-best as was her 108.2 innings pitched. Casalino was second on the team in both categories at 4.06 and 88.0 innings pitched.
Scouting Syracuse
Syracuse has started the season with a 5-3 record over the first two weekends, with two wins at LSU's Tiger Classic and three more wins at the prestigious Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California. At the plate, the 'Cuse have been led by the duo of Bryce Holmgren and Alicia Hansen, who are both hitting over .400. Holmgren is hitting at a .500 clip with a team-high 12 hits and six RBI to go along with four runs scored, while Hansen has a .417 ERA with a team-leading eight runs scored, 10 hits and three RBI. In the circle, sophomore Alexa Romero has been dominant this season with a 4-0 record and a 1.47 ERA.
Scouting Houston
The Cougars currently sit at 4-4 through two weeks, with all four losses coming to schools from Power-5 conferences. However, they collected a 6-0 win over No. 15 Ole Miss. The Cougar lineup has five players hitting over .300, led by Sarah Queen's .478 clip. Mariah Garcia has also been productive, hitting .375 with nine hits, five runs scored, the only two Cougar home runs on the season and a team-high nine RBI. In total four different Cougars have nine hits or more in eight games. Houston's pitching staff has also been stout with a combined 2.04 ERA, led by Savannah Heebner with a 1.75 ERA in 20.0 innings pitched. As a staff, the Cougars have given up just 16 earned runs in 55.0 innings
Live Stats/Updates
Live stats for all five games are available on the Softball schedule page on goUTSA.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UTSASoftball on twitter.
