SAN ANTONIO – UTSA baseball will open a four-game series with Rice on Friday at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field. The series will resume with a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m., and conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. All four games will be broadcast live on CUSA TV.
UTSA (15-15, 7-8 Conference USA) is coming off a Sunday win at No. 21 Charlotte in the Queen City, 11-5, using a seven-run 10th inning to rally past the 49ers, who had a school-record 12-game winning streak snapped.
The series marks a return trip from the conference opening weekend in Houston on March 26-28, which saw the Roadrunners claiming three of four, with a 16-4 run-rule win on Friday, falling 10-8 in the doubleheader opener on Saturday, before claiming a 4-1 win in the nightcap and an 11-3 win in the finale. It marked UTSA's second straight series win over the Owls, the only two series wins for UTSA in program history.
The Roadrunners will turn to freshman righty Kyle Sonduck (0-0, 7.50 ERA) for his first career start, in the series opener against Rice righty Roel Garcia (1-2, 5.45 ERA). Sonduck has worked in five games in relief, striking out seven in six innings. Garcia has made eight starts, walking 12 and striking out 30 in 36.1 innings.
In the doubleheader opener on Saturday, junior Jacob Jimenez (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will make his first start of the year, opposite Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb (4-4, 7.20 ERA). Jimenez has worked in 2.2 innings on the year over two relief outings. Holcomb has appeared in 10 games with a team-best nine starts, working 45 innings, allowing just eight hits with 40 strikeouts and 61 hits allowed.
The Roadrunners have hit .294/.390/.474 as a team in 2021, with 52 doubles, four triples, 41 homers and 235 runs scored, stealing 21 bases. On the mound, UTSA has a 5.25 ERA in 252 innings, walking 122 and striking out 226.
UTSA has been paced at the dish by senior Griffin Paxton, who has hit .354 with five homers and 24 RBI. Senior catcher Nick Thornquist has batted .342 with seven homers and 28 RBI, with junior infielder Joshua Lamb hitting .333 with 10 doubles, five homers and 31 RBI. Junior outfielder Dylan Rock has slugged five homers and driven in 24 runs with a .311 average. Outfielder Ian Bailey has slugged six homers and hit .261.
Righties Luke Malone (2-1, 5.70 ERA) and Hunter Mason (4-5, 5.93 ERA), and lefty Grant Miller (0-1, 6.75 ERA) have each appeared in double-digit games.
Rice has hit .264.348/.396 as a team in 2021, scoring 196 runs in 37 games, with 44 doubles, seven triples, 33 homers and a 139-264 walk-strikeout ratio. Rice has stolen 27 of 35 bases and fielded .974, turning 25 double plays and throwing out 16 would-be stealers. On the mound, Rice has a 6.47 team ERA, allowing 163 walks and 345 hits in 308.2 innings, striking out 301.
Braden Comeaux has hit a team-leading .338 for the Owls, with Bradley Gneiting batting .293 with five homers and 23 RBI. Cade Edwards has hit a team-high eight homers, driving in 24 runs and hitting .292. In relief, Guy Garibay (1-1, 3.68 ERA) has a team-leading three saves in 14.2 innings. Drake Greenwood (0-1, 6.91 ERA) has worked in 11 games in a relief. Brandon Deskins (1-4, 4.84 ERA) has fanned a team-leading 54 and walked 20 in 35.1 innings.
The Roadrunners enter the series with the Owls having won the last two series matchups between the two teams, the first series wins for UTSA in series history. UTSA trails the all-time series 11-24 and own a 4-6 mark in games played in San Antonio. UTSA has won six of the last eight games with Rice, the best stretch in program history.
The series matchup marks UTSA Coach Pat Hallmark's second matchup Rice as the head man of the Roadrunners, after UTSA claimed the series win early in the year. Hallmark, a product of Houston's Westbury High School, and a former star catcher for the Owls, led Rice to the NCAA Tournament in every season he suited up for the Owls, including his time as an assistant from 2006-16, where Rice made three College World Series appearances. He earned all-conference honors for legendary coach Wayne Graham in 1995.
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