SAN ANTONIO -- UTSA's baseball team fell short against their I-35 rival Texas State on the home diamond in the first of three mid-week clashes Tuesday. Plating five runs in the middle frames, the Bobcats claimed an 8-3 victory at Roadrunner Field. Separated by 47 miles, the Roadrunners dropped to 7-6 with the setback, while the visitors from San Marcos improved to 8-4.
At the dish, Dylan Rock led the home team; reaching base in four of his five plate appearances, with two walks and two hits, recording his third multi-hit game of the season. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single and a double. Rock drove in two of his team's three runs.
Jonathan Tapia has reached base safely in every contest this season with a single, while Griffin Paxton registered at least one hit for the 12th time in 13 games.
Deadlocked 3-3 after four innings, Texas State plated five unanswered runs, opening up a five-run advantage.
In the fifth, the Bobcats put two on and one out with two base-on-balls. Connor Anderson doubled down the left field line, scoring Will Hollis from second. Ryan Newman reached on a fielders choice and staked the Bobcats to a 5-3 edge when former Roadrunner, Skyler Valentine, slid in safely at home.
With the bags full in the next frame, Hollis knocked in two with a single through the right side of the infield. Jaxon Williams advanced on a wild pitch, scoring the final run of the game.
No hits were needed in the second as Texas State, capitalizing on a miscue, a walk, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly and a groundout, staked the Bobcats to a 2-0 lead. They pushed the advantaged to 3-0 with a single and back-to-back groundouts in the next frame.
UTSA posted three in the third, squaring the game at three-all.
Jacob Lamb worked a five-pitch leadoff walk and moved to second when Tapia was hit by the first pitch he saw. The runners moved up 90 feet, when a seeing-eye single off the bat of Paxton bounced through the right side of the infield. Rock narrowly missed a grand slam, blasting a double off the left field wall, driving in Lamb and Tapia. Bryan Arias converted on a productive out, scoring Paxton from third on a groundout.
Hunter Grimes limited the damage in the sixth when he came out of UTSA's bullpen. He worked 2.0 scoreless innings and fanned four of the seven batters he faced, including striking out the side in the seventh. Zach Zeller, Zach Griggs and Ben Ostrominski combined to get the final six outs without allowing a run or hit.
Garrett Herrmann (1-0) picked up the win for the Bobcats, allowing three runs on three hits, walking three and striking out four in 5.0 innings.
Hollis paced Texas State, going 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring one and driving in two. Valentine scored twice against his former mates.
Opening the season with 12-of-13 games at home, UTSA ventures outside the Lone Star State for the first time in 2019.
The Roadrunners embark on a four-game road trip, beginning with a 6 p.m. clash down on the plains against No. 18 Auburn at Plainsman Park Friday. First pitch of Saturday's contest is at 2 p.m. and the finale of the three-game set is Sunday at 1 p.m.
- UTSA -
