SAN ANTONIO – UTSA baseball – winners of six of its last seven games and coming off a series win at Rice – will host league power Southern Miss in a four-game series starting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field. The series resumes with a pair of seven-inning games on Friday, starting at 2 p.m. and concludes on Saturday at 10 a.m. All four games will be broadcast on CUSA TV.
The Roadrunners wrapped up a four-game series to open Conference USA play with three wins over the weekend at Rice. It marked UTSA's second consecutive series win over the Owls, the first two series wins vs. Rice in program history, and improved UTSA to 6-2 over its last eight games with the Owls.
UTSA (11-8, 3-1 C-USA) has won six of its last seven games after picking up the 3-1 weekend vs. the Owls. The Roadrunners have been boosted by the league's top offensive attack, hitting .297/.396/.476 through 19 games, scoring 163 runs with 40 doubles, 26 homers and 13 steals. On the mound, UTSA has a 4.50 team ERA with 71 walks and 148 strikeouts in 164 innings.
The Roadrunners opened the series with a 16-4 win on Friday, run-ruling the Owls in seven innings, getting a historic night from junior outfielder Chase Keng. Keng belted three homers and drove in five runs in a four-hit game, marking the fifth player in program history and the first since 2011 to hit three homers in a game, equaling the school record. The Roadrunners belted five homers in the Friday-night win, including a grand slam from Joshua Lamb, who also hit a jack in the series finale on Sunday.
UTSA owned a four-run lead entering the final inning of the second game – and opener of a doubleheader – on Saturday before Rice rallied with six to walk off with the win. UTSA bounced back immediately, using a strong pitching performance from freshman righty Simon Miller to take the nightcap, 4-1. The Roadrunners then routed Rice in the finale, 11-3, getting the blast from Lamb and a homer from Ian Bailey. Freshman Kobe Jaramillo picked up his first career win in his second career start and Grant Miller earned the four-inning save.
UTSA hit .318/.430/.535 over the weekend, with seven doubles, seven homers and 39 runs scored, outscoring the Owls 39-18.
The Roadrunners have been led at the plate by senior Griffin Paxton, who has hit .389 with six doubles, four homers and 18 RBI, owning a .500 on-base percentage. Junior Dylan Rock has hit .329 with five doubles, and three homers, driving in 13. Senior catcher Nick Thornquist has cranked four homers and driven in 22, hitting .319 with four doubles and a triple. Lamb has added a .311 average with seven doubles, three homers and 21 RBI. Bailey owns a team-high five homers, with Austin Ochoa belting two with 12 RBI.
UTSA's strong weekend came without the services of senior righty Shane Daughety (2-0, 2.25 ERA), UTSA's ERA leader who owns team highs in innings (24) and strikeouts (25). Senior Hunter Mason (3-3, 4.26 ERA) has worked in 19 innings, with Luke Malone (1-1, 5.06 ERA) making five Friday-night starts for the Roadrunners. Freshmen John Chomko (0-1, 2.61 ERA), Simon Miller (2-0, 2.76 ERA), Daniel Garza (1-0, 5.19 ERA) and Kobe Jaramillo (1-0, 5.25 ERA) have all been fixtures on the mound in their debut seasons.
Southern Miss (14-9, 1-3 C-USA) is coming off its opening weekend in conference play, hosting No. 21 Louisiana Tech last weekend, with the Bulldogs claiming a 14-6 seven-inning win on Saturday, but falling in the opener, 3-2, the third game, 4-0 and the finale, 8-7 in a tightly fought series. The Bulldogs owns wins over Alabama, a pair vs. UL-Lafayette, two of three at Jacksonville State, two of three at South Alabama and two of three vs. Northwestern State on opening weekend.
The Golden Eagles have been paced by a stiff pitching staff that has fanned a staggering 251 in 199 innings, allowing just 175 hits and 47 walks, with foes hitting .232. Several arms have strong strikeout numbers, including Hunter Stanley (3-1, 2.21 ERA), who has struck out 53 in 36.2 innings. Walker Powell (4-1, 2.57 ERA) has fanned 37 with just four walks in 35 innings. Ben Ethridge (1-1, 2.73 ERA) has punched out 41 with two walks in 29.2 innings. Garrett Ramsey (0-1, 1.08 ERA) has seven of USM's eight saves, striking ut 15 with three walks in 8.1 innings.
At the dish, Charlie Fischer has hit a team-leading .328 with three homers and 12 RBI, the only fixture in the lineup hitting over .300. Reed Trimble leads the team with five homers and 22 RBI, hitting .284. Reece Ewing and Christopher Sargent have each cranked three homers, with Sargent driving in 20 runs.
The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series with the Roadrunners, 15-7, including a 5-4 mark in games played in San Antonio. In the last meeting in 2019 in San Antonio, UTSA won two of three, posting a 12-2 win in the opener, a 6-5 win in the middle game before falling 14-6 in the finale. It marked the second all-time series win over the Golden Eagles and the first since 2015 in San Antonio.
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