SAN ANTONIO -- Middle Tennessee spoiled Karan Patel's dominant outing on the mound with a rally in the ninth Friday at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (7-12, 0-1 C-USA) dropped the Conference USA opener 7-4, while the Blue Raiders improved to 6-11 overall and 1-0 in the league.
Patel recorded his second consecutive quality start, allowing two hits, walking one and striking out five in seven-innings of work. He retired 22 of the 25 batters he faced, including a stretch of seven straight.
Aldo Buendia delivered a two-out RBI double down the right field line, plating Griffin Paxton, giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead in the second.
In the fourth, UTSA pushed its lead to 2-0 when Taylor Barber and Nick Thornquist executed a double steal. A wild throw by the visiting catcher ended up in left field, allowing the pair to move up another 90 feet, scoring Barber.
Bryan Arias excited the home crowd when he blasted a towering shot over the wall in left, scoring Ryan Stacy in front of him. The two-run homer doubled the lead at 4-0, after five innings.
That is where the score remained heading to the ninth. Middle Tennessee sent 11 guys to the plate and grabbed a 7-4 advantage with seven runs on six hits, a base-on-balls and a hit batter.
Trailing 4-2 with the bases loaded and two outs, Darien Prewett dropped a double inside the left field line, clearing the bases and giving his team a 5-4 lead. The Blue Raiders followed with two additional hits, adding to the lead.
John Dowless worked a 1.1 inning of relief and benefitted from the rally, earning his first win of the season, after Scheldon Paulk retired the Roadrunners in order in the ninth.
UTSA's top-third of the batting order went 7 for 15 (.467) from the plate. Arias was 3 for 5 with a run scored and two RBIs, while Stacy and Dylan Rock each had two hits.
Rock's single in the first extended his hitting streak to 18 games, which is the longest by a Roadrunner since Tyler Carpenter hit safely in 19 games during the 2010 campaign.
Junior RHP, Slater Foust (2-1, 1.11) is scheduled to take the mound for UTSA Saturday in the middle game of the weekend series. The Blue Raiders plan to counter with sophomore southpaw, Peyton Wiggington. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
- UTSA -
