SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team will look to remain in the Conference USA race this weekend, as the Roadrunners travel to Norfolk, Va., to play a three-game series against Old Dominion. First pitch of the set is scheduled for 5 p.m. (CT) Friday. Saturday's game is slated to start at 2 p.m., while Sunday's finale is scheduled for a 10 a.m. first pitch.
The Roadrunners (26-20, 12-11 C-USA) enter the weekend in fifth place in the league standings, one-half game behind fourth-place Charlotte, who UTSA plays next weekend. The Birds are also a full game ahead of FIU and one-and-a-half games clear of both UAB and WKU.
UTSA continues to boast one of the conference's top pitching staffs. The Roadrunners rank third in C-USA with a 3.69 ERA, while limiting opponents to a league-low .237 batting average.
Steven Dressler (5-2, 2.90 ERA), Nathan Alexander (2-1, 3.71 ERA) and Chance Kirby (4-4, 2.94 ERA) are expected to start on the mound during the weekend set.
Dressler, a left-hander, has logged a team-best nine quality starts this season and will start on Friday night. The Burlington, Ontario, native received a no-decision in his last start after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings against Rice. Two weeks ago, Dressler twirled a complete game to lead the Roadrunners to an 11-1 win at Middle Tennessee.
Alexander is scheduled to make his sixth start of the year on Saturday, but first in C-USA play. The right-hander held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to only one run and three hits while striking out six in five in his last start on May 1. He's allowed one run in each of his last four starts.
Meanwhile, Kirby, who is the reigning C-USA Pitcher of the Week, will make his 11th start of the year on Sunday. The righty held Rice scoreless while striking out 13 in 7.1 frames last Sunday at the Bird Bath. The Austin native leads the team with 56 strikeouts in 49 innings, while limiting the opposition to a .206 batting average this spring.
On the offensive side, UTSA is hitting .279 as a team and averaging 6.3 runs per game.
Bryan Arias continues to lead the Roadrunners with a .340 batting average. The junior infielder has hit safely in his last six games and was 5 for 11 with a homer and three RBIs last weekend against Rice.
Ben Brookover (.322) and Trent Bowles (.316) follow Arias in the team batting race. Brookover and Bowles are tied for the team lead with seven home runs, while Brookover has knocked in a team-best 46 runs.
The Monarchs (14-31, 6-17 C-USA) are in 12th place in the current league standings. Old Dominion won its last two outings, including a 7-1 win over VCU on Tuesday night. The Monarchs are just 10-16 at home this season and 0-10-1 in weekend series. ODU split a pair of games against Marshall last weekend, while the third game was canceled due to weather.
Left-hander Luke Krantz (1-0, 4.74 ERA) is slated to start Friday night's game on the mound for Old Dominion. The Monarchs have not announced starting pitchers for the last two games of the weekend.
The two teams have met 12 times previously, each winning half of the meetings. ODU took two of three matchups last season in San Antonio, while the Roadrunners collected two of three in the last series played in Norfolk, which was two years ago.
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