SAN ANTONIO – UTSA softball opens its 27th season of play this weekend at Roadrunner Field with its annual UTSA Softball Classic. The tournament opens Friday, Feb. 9 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 11, and brings Abilene Christian, Seton Hall, Southern Illinois and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the Alamo City. For tournament information click here.
In the classic, the Roadrunners match up against Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. Friday before facing Abilene Christian (4:30 p.m.) and Seton Hall (7 p.m.) on Saturday. UTSA closes the tournament with a 2 p.m. contest against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday.
The tournament will mark the first of 10 consecutive home games for UTSA, who returns eight letter winners from last year's squad. Among those returners is junior Bailee Baldwin, who led the Roadrunner offense last season with 11 home runs, 33 RBIs and 91 total bases.
Junior Hailey Garza and sophomore Rylee Rodriquez return to the infield with 79 combined starts. Garza had a .969 fielding percentage, while Rodriquez tallied 11 doubles, 10 home runs and 38 RBIs on a .601 slugging percentage to lead the team last season. Senior Erica Sanchez and junior Candice Hadd will provide depth and experience in the infield, while freshmen Brycen Blinco, Victoria Villarreal, and Ashlynn Walls look to crack the lineup, as well.
Behind the plate, sophomore Kylea Nix looks to build on her experience from last season while freshman Celeste Borza works her way into the lineup. Borza, who joins the Roadrunners from the California high school ranks, where she appeared in 45 games, tallied four RBIs, a pair of doubles, a .355 on base percentage along with a 1.000 fielding percentage during her senior season at Cerritos High School.
Baldwin and sophomore Celeste Loughman are the top returners in the outfield along with transfer Abigail Haston. Haston comes from Ranger JC where she recorded a .979 fielding percentage with 25 stolen bases last year. Meanwhile, Loughman put together a strong freshman campaign last year when she hit .371 with five doubles, three triples, three homers and 24 RBIs to go along with 16 stolen bases.
Freshman Hannah Boring is also coming in to help aid the returners in the outfield. Boring was highly recruited in San Antonio where she ranked 24th among high school recruits in Texas. In her four-year career at Johnson HS she played in 114 games, totaled 29 doubles, five triples, eight homers and 93 RBIs on a .556 percent slugging average.
In the circle, the Roadrunners will look to senior Lizzy Fox. She returns after leading UTSA with 14 wins, a 3.80 ERA, and 48 strikeouts in 164.0 innings last season. Joining Fox are freshmen pitchers Madison Nelson and Michelle Iparraguirre. Nelson ranked 47th in the nation with a 1.39 ERA, 231 strikeouts, six saves and five no hitters on 227.1 innings in her three-year career at Deer Park High School, while Iparraguirre ranked 34th in Texas at Incarnate Word High School where she posted 323 strikeouts, four saves, three no hitters and a perfect game on 276.1 innings in her two-year career.
Up Next
UTSA returns to Roadrunners field for its UTSA Softball Tournament, Feb. 16-18. In the tournament the Roadrunners will challenge Lamar, Kansas, and Priairie View A&M.
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