SAN ANTONIO – In a final tune-up before the Conference USA Championships next Wednesday, UTSA baseball will wrap up its 2021 regular-season schedule with a matchup at home vs. UIW, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (22-24, 14-17 C-USA) has one final tune-up before opening the C-USA Championships in the first round on Wednesday, May 26 at No. 14 Louisiana Tech, the host school in Ruston. The Roadrunners earned the No. 7 seed and will face off the with the No. 2 Bulldogs, the Western Division Champion. UTSA is coming off a weekend series at LA Tech, taking the first game, 7-5, before the Bulldogs rallied to win the final three to clinch the division title.
The matchup with UIW will mark the snapping of an eight-game streak of games against a top-20 foe. UTSA is playing 34 percent of its 2021 schedule against top-25 teams, the hardest schedule by that metric in program history.
UTSA will turn to freshman righty Shane Anderson (0-0, 12.60 ERA) for his first career start on Tuesday, facing off with UIW's Carson Rollins (1-4, 8.00 ERA). Anderson has appeared in six games in relief in 2021, working five innings with eight strikeouts. Rollins has worked in eight games with seven starts, tossing 27 innings, allowing 38 hits and 19 walks and striking out 22.
The Roadrunners are paced by one of the top offensive attacks in college baseball, ranking among the NCAA leaders in seven offensive categories. UTSA ranks 12th in the nation in scoring (7.9 runs per game), 17th in batting average (.303), 14th in runs (363), 19th in slugging percentage (.484) and 22nd in on-base percentage (.397), also ranking 14th in hit by pitch (75) and 11th in sacrifice flies (28).
Four UTSA sluggers have charted an average above .330 late in the year, including senior Griffin Paxton, who has hit .345 with 15 doubles, one triple, seven homers and 41 RBI. Junior shortstop Joshua Lamb has hit .335 with 14 doubles, five homers and 39 RBI, while junior centerfielder Dylan Rock owns a .336 average with 12 doubles, eight homers and 38 RBI, stealing 11 bases. Senior catcher Nick Thornquist – a member of the Buster Posey Award Watch List – has hit .331 with 10 doubles, 12 homers and 44 RBI.
On the mound, UTSA has a 5.91 team ERA in 374.1 innings, allowing 412 hits and 186 walks, striking out 344. Defensively, UTSA has fielded .969, turning 27 ground-ball double plays and throwing out 16 would-be base-stealers. Senior Hunter Mason (6-5, 4.98 ERA) leads the team in wins, innings (43.1) and strikeouts (47), working in 20 relief games. UTSA has had 10 Roadrunners appear in double-figure games, including John Chomko (0-2, 4.71 ERA), Daniel Garza (1-1, 5.14 ERA), Luke Malone (2-2, 5.91 ERA), Arturo Guajardo (3-2, 6.7 ERA), Kyle Sonduck (0-0, 6.75 ERA), Simon Miller (3-1, 6.90 ERA), Jay Ward (0-0, 7.00 ERA), Grant Miller (1-3, 7.04 ERA) and Kobe Jaramillo (1-1, 8.23 ERA).
UIW (20-25, 16-20 Southland Conference) is tied for ninth in the Southland Conference after posting a four-game sweep of Houston Baptist last time out on May 7-9 in San Antonio. The Cardinals have been off since a May 11 loss at Baylor and will host Lamar to conclude the regular-season schedule on Thursday-Saturday.
The Cardinals have hit .261/.366/.414 as a team in 2021, with 256 runs scored in 45 games, slugging 75 doubles, 16 triples, 38 homers and stealing 29 of 38 bases. On the mound, UIW has a 5.83 team ERA in 369 innings, allowing 427 hits and 165 walks, striking out 337. Defensively, UIW has fielded .963, turning 28 double plays and throwing out 16 of 85 would-be base-stealers.
Lee Thomas and Grant Smith lead the UIW lineup, with the pair each slugging seven homers, joining Wilson Ehrhardt for the team lead. Thomas has hit .318 with 11 doubles and five triples and Smith has hit .305 with 37 RBI. Michael Garza (3-4, 5.21 ERA) leads the bullpen with five saves in 17 games, striking out 55 in 57 innings. Steve Haywood (2-3, 5.87 ERA) has appeared in a team-leading 21 games in relief, fanning 33 and walking 16 in 23 innings.
UTSA leads the all-time series with UIW, 15-11, including a 10-6 record in games played in San Antonio. UIW snapped UTSA's four-game winning streak in the lone meeting in 2020, 7-3. UTSA has won eight of the last 11 meetings.
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