HOUSTON -- Sugarland stars Karan Patel and Dylan Rock shined bright at Reckling Park Friday as they paced UTSA to a 4-2 victory over Rice.
Behind Patel's third-consecutive quality start and Rock's 2-for-4 performance at the plate, the Roadrunners improved to 10-12 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA play. Rice falls to 8-16 on the season and winless in four games of league action.
Patel matched his career and season-high seven innings pitched, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five. He matched the Owls' Matt Canterino, as neither allowed a run through the first six innings, with both facing two batters over the minimum to that point.
In the seventh, Rock broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single, plating Bryan Arias, who led off with a triple. After Rock advanced 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Bryan Sturges, Griffon Paxton smashed a one-hopper off the right field wall for his second three-bagger of the season. He scooted home on a wild pitch, pushing the lead out to 3-0.
After a strikeout opened the home half to the frame, Rice strung together back-to-back hits – with a double and a single - cutting the deficit to 3-1. A two-out triple just inside the third base bag bounded down the line and allowed a run to score, putting the potential tying run only 90 feet from home. Patel induced a groundout to Jonathan Tapia at second, ending the threat and handing the ball over to Hunter Mason in the eighth.
Mason worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Nick Thornquist provided an insurance run for the Roadrunners in their last at bat, driving in Rock with a two-out double.
With one out in the ninth, the Owls put runners on first and second with a hit batsman and a single, before Mason coaxed a pop-up to third and a strikeout, persevering the win.
The teams square off at 2 p.m. Saturday in the middle tilt of the weekend set.
- UTSA -
