SAN ANTONIO – UTSA (9-2) defeated the preseason SWAC favorite Southern Jaguars (3-9) on Sunday, 15-7, to secure the series win, 2-1.
The win came off Saturday's loss to Southern which snapped the Roadrunners' previous six-game win streak.
UTSA's bats came alive Sunday, as four different Roadrunners mashed a total of five homers to power the UTSA offense.
Ian Bailey hit his third and fourth homer of the year today, both solo shots, to lead the way. Ryan Flores, Sammy Diaz and Shane Sirdashney also got in on the fun, each hitting homeruns of their own.
On the pitching side of things, UTSA deployed five different Roadrunners throughout the game. Freshman righty Braden Davis got the start, as he went for 2.2 innings. In relief of Davis was Allen Smith. The sophomore put in 1.1 innings of work before Josh Salinas' name was called. Salinas made his first appearance on the year to start the fifth, also securing today's win. Salinas went for two complete innings allowing only one hit and one run while striking out two. Daniel Shafer and Grant Miller closed out the seventh through ninth innings, allowing only two hits combined and striking out three.
The Jaguars got the scoring started today, as Zavier Moore bombed a two-run homer in the top of the second inning to get Southern on the board first, 2-0.
It didn't take long for UTSA to respond, however, as they struck right back in the bottom of the second. Ryan Flores launched a solo shot (second on the season) to secure UTSA's first run. Following a Garrett Poston walk, Diaz walked up to the plate and cranked a two-run homer to put the Runners up, 3-2.
Southern got a run back in the top of the third inning, as a Burgos single up the middle plated Rollon.
UTSA took their lead right back in the bottom of the third, as Ian Bailey spanked a solo homer, giving the leftfielder his third homerun of the season.
Southern's offense gained momentum in the fourth and fifth inning, as the Jaguars put together four runs in that span to retake the lead, 7-4.
From the fifth inning on though, it was all UTSA, as the Roadrunners would put up 11 more runs to secure victory.
In the fifth inning, Jonathan Tapia reached on a fielder's choice and was doubled in by Chase Keng. Then, using a Flores single, Keng rounded the bases to earn UTSA's second run of the inning. With Flores on, Sirdashney stepped up to the plate and hit a double to left-center which plated Flores. Garrett Poston stepped into the batter's box and proceeded to ingle up the middle which pushed Sirdashney across the plate. After Diaz got hit by a pitch, freshman shortstop Matt King doubled down the leftfield line to score both Poston and Diaz, thus completing UTSA's six-run fifth inning.
UTSA's offense struck again in the bottom of the seventh, as Leyton Barry's single through the right side was able to score two and push UTSA's lead to 12-7.
In the eighth, a pair of homers – Bailey solo shot and Sirdashney 2R HR – propelled UTSA to its largest lead of the night as UTSA went up 15-7.
Grant Miller was able to earn a shutout ninth inning and preserve the UTSA lead, winning 15-7.
Sunday's Information
Home Runs
UTSA: Ryan Flores (2), Sammy Diaz (2), Ian Bailey 2 (4) and Shane Sirdashney (1)
Southern: Zavier Moore (2), Taj Porter (1)
WP – Josh Salinas (1-0): 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks
LP – Jerry Burkett II (0-1): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 runs, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks
Up Next
The Roadrunners will play again this Tuesday, March 8, as they host cross-town foe UIW. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed on CUSAtv.
- UTSA -
