SAN ANTONIO – Despite squandering opportunities, UTSA narrowly rallies in the ninth, before dropping a 7-6 decision to Texas A&M – Corpus Christi at Roadrunner Field Monday.
Trailing by two, Dylan Rock led off with a single up the middle and moved to third when Bryan Sturges doubled into the Roadrunners (10-3) bullpen in the left-field corner. Griffin Paxton ratcheted up the pressure when he lofted a deep fly ball to right center, scoring Rock and advancing Sturges to third, 90 feet away from knotting the game.
Henry Bird coaxed a pop out before striking out the final batter of the game, salting away the win for the Islanders (6-6) and handing UTSA its first home loss of the season.
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi utilized a five-run fifth, constructing a 7-3 margin but the Roadrunners responded by collecting solo markers in the fifth and sixth frames.
Pepper Jones entered with a runner on third and five runs already in the fifth but limited the damage and got his side out of the inning. While his teammates trimmed the deficit, he struck out the side in the sixth and worked around a lead-off single and posted another scoreless frame.
Palmer Wenzel relieved Jones and sat down all six batters he faced, retiring the Islanders in order in both the eighth and ninth innings, setting the stage for the late inning drama.
UTSA capitalized on two errors by the defense in the first inning, registering its fourth-consecutive game with the first lead. A pair of walks and a hit batsman aided Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in the third, obtaining a short-lived advantage. In the fourth, Jonathan Tapia opened with a single up the middle. A double by Taylor Barber put the equalizer and go-ahead run in scoring position. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and obtained the Roadrunners final lead of the game on a sacrifice fly by Chase Hacker.
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi sent 10 men to the plated in the fifth, including the first four that came around to score. After a fly out, the Islanders tallied their fifth marker of the frame with a single and a double. The Roadrunners snuffed out the uprising by throwing out an attempted double steal and a fly out.
UP NEXT:
The Roadrunners head to UT Arlington for a three-game weekend series against the Mavericks beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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