NORFOLK, Va. – UTSA scored four unanswered runs, three thanks to an Ian Bailey three-run blast, to defeat No. 29 Old Dominion on the road Saturday, 8-7 in 11 innings.
UTSA (20-11, 6-5 C-USA) evened the weekend series at one apiece Saturday afternoon, as the Roadrunner offense came alive late to overtake the Monarchs. The Roadrunners got on the board early, as they led 4-3 after four innings of play. UTSA would then go scoreless until the ninth inning when they found themselves down 7-4. Old Dominion had the No. 1 reliever in college baseball (according to D1 Baseball) in Noah Dean on the mound to close out UTSA. That's when Ian Bailey played hero and hit his team-leading ninth homer of the season, a three-run shot, to tie the game at seven all.
Bailey had a big day for UTSA, as the senior outfielder had four RBI on the day on two hits. Ryan Flores also had a solid day at the plate as he led the team with three hits and chipped in two RBI, one of which proved to be the game-winning run when he doubled into right-centerfield, plating Sammy Diaz, to put UTSA ahead 8-7.
The Roadrunners started Jacob Jimenez who worked 2.2 innings, allowed one run on three hits and struck out two. John Chomko entered in relief for Jimenez and went for 1.2 innings. A native of Tomball, Chomko allowed two runs on one hit while striking out one. Senior lefty Grant Miller would enter in place of Chomko in the middle of the fifth. Miller got both remaining outs in the fifth via strikeout, taking UTSA to the sixth. In the sixth, Miller gave up four runs on four hits before Ryan Beaird took over with two runners on and no outs. After walking the first batter, Beaird settled in and got three outs and the Roadrunners out of the inning. Beaird would pitch the entire seventh and eighth inning too, as the San Antonio native allowed just one hit in his three innings of work, striking out two. Following Bailey's game-tying homer, Daniel Shafer (2-1) entered in the bottom of the ninth. The righty went for three innings and didn't allow a single hit or run as he struck out six to earn himself his second victory of the season.
ODU (22-7, 6-5 C-USA) starter Nick Pantos went for four innings as he allowed four runs on five hits, striking out eight. In place of Pantos came Vincent Bashara. Bashara threw two hitless/scoreless innings while striking out two and walking none. After Bashara came Jason Hartline. Hartline also went for two innings but his were not as pretty as Bashara's. Hartline allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts. Noah Dean, widely regarded as the best reliever in college baseball, entered the game in place of Hartline with the intention of closing UTSA out. Instead, the Roadrunners roughed him up in his 2.1 innings of work. Coming into the game, Dean had allowed no runs and just two hits in his nine appearances on the year. In the game, he allowed three runs on three hits in 2.1 innings pitched and allowed UTSA to tie and then take the lead. Brett Smith entered in the top of the 11th to get the remaining two outs and did so to end ODU's pitching day.
Old Dominion got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Monarch first baseman Matt Coutney cranked a line drive ball just over the rightfield fence. The solo shot was Coutney's 11th of the year and put ODU up 1-0.
The Roadrunners struck back in the top of the third. The inning began with a Tapia HBP, Barry single and a Diaz walk to load the bases with no outs for UTSA. Ryan Flores grounded a ball to short which resulted in the first out but it allowed Tapia to score and pull the Roadrunners even at one. Following the Flores RBI, Ian Bailey smacked a single to leftfield to plate Barry and put the Roadrunners up 2-1.
UTSA was able to add two more to its lead in the top of the fourth inning. Tapia was hit by a pitch for the second time on the day and Leyton Barry followed it up with a single to get runners on the corners. Barry would then advance second to second on a wild pitch and give the Roadrunners two in scoring position. Then with two outs, Diaz hit a grounder to third which should have been the end of the inning. However, the third baseman airmailed the throw to first and both Tapia and Barry scored to make it 4-1 UTSA.
In the bottom of the frame, the Monarchs got two back. The inning began with Coutney drawing a seven-pitch walk to get a runner on. Then, the very next batter, Robbie Petracci took one for a ride to deep rightfield to bring ODU back within a run as the score sat at 4-3 UTSA.
Both teams would be scoreless in the fifth but Old Dominion's offense produced in the sixth. The Monarchs started the inning with back-to-back singles. Then, Robbie Petracci, who homered earlier, drove a single to right field. The ball was misplayed and both runners scored and Petracci advanced to third. Next up, Brock Gagliardi singled to right field to plate Petracci and make it 6-4 ODU. Two walks later and the bases were loaded with no outs. Tommy Bell hit into a fielder's choice which Ryan Beaird fielded and made a great play to save a run and get a runner out at home for the first out. With one out and the bases still juiced, Kenny Levari hit a deep sac fly to centerfield to bring home run number seven as the game sat at 7-4. Beaird ended the inning by striking out 2021 Freshman of the Year Carter Trice.
UTSA had failed to score since the fourth inning when the ninth began. Tapia led off the inning with a single which caused ODU to put relief pitcher Noah Dean in the game. The first batter Dean faced was Barry who he struck out. Then it was Diaz, who took a ball all the way to the wall, doubling and putting Roadrunners on second and third base. With one out and two on, Ian Bailey stepped up to the plate and launched a no-doubt three-run home run to left field, tying the game at seven all.
The two teams would be scoreless in the tenth but come the eleventh, the Roadrunner offense pulled through. Diaz was hit by a pitch for the second time today for his team-leading eleventh time on the year. Diaz then went to second thanks to a Noah Dean wild pitch. Flores was at the plate with the winning run on second and smacked a double to deep right-center to score Diaz and give UTSA the 8-7 edge. In the bottom of the frame, Daniel Shafer would hold the Monarchs scoreless to secure the UTSA victory.
Saturday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: Ian Bailey (9)
Old Dominion: Matt Coutney (11), Robbie Petracci (6)
WP – Daniel Shafer (2-1): 3.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Noah Dean (2-1): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Up Next
UTSA will return to the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex tomorrow, April 10, to face ODU in a rubber match for the series finale. The game will feature freshman righty Braden Davis on the mound for UTSA against ODU's sophomore righty, Sam Armstrong. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. (CT) and the game will be streamed on CUSA TV.
- UTSA -
