SAN ANTONIO – UTSA looks to make it three Conference USA weekend series wins in a row, as the Roadrunners travel to Rice for a weekend series against the Owls.
UTSA (22-11, 7-5 C-USA) enters the weekend series having won five of its last six games against conference foes. The series will take place over the Easter weekend and will feature an Easter Sunday game.
The Roadrunners are 9-1 in their last ten outings with a 6-1 record over ranked teams in that span. UTSA has defeated No. 11 TCU, No. 23 Charlotte (3x) and No. 29 Old Dominion (2x) in its last ten outings. UTSA also defeated No. 2 Stanford earlier in the year as the Roadrunners now own a 7-1 record against ranked foes on the season. UTSA continued to climb the RPI, as Wednesday's win over Sam Houston propelled the Roadrunners up to 45 in the RPI.
The Owls (10-24, 3-9 C-USA) enter the weekend series also coming off of a midweek win over Sam Houston. Like UTSA, Rice visited Huntsville earlier in the week and secured a 5-1 win to enter the weekend with momentum.
This will be the eleventh all-time series meeting between the two Texas programs, as Rice holds the all-time advantage over the Roadrunners possessing a 26-13 record. The Owls hold a 7-2-1 series record over UTSA, however, in the last three series matchups, UTSA is 2-0-1. The Owls are 17-7 in home games played against UTSA.
Miscellaneous Notes
- UTSA enters the weekend series having the second-highest batting average (.297) in all of Conference USA and ranks 37th nationally.
- UTSA ranks fifth in C-USA with 60 walks drawn.
- The Roadrunners have hit 72 doubles, the 22nd most in baseball ranking third in C-USA.
- UTSA has 12 triples on the year, tops in C-USA and 19th in the nation.
- UTSA possesses the 24th most hits in college baseball with 342. Ranking third in C-USA.
- UTSA's 263 runs rank 22nd in college baseball and second in conference.
- UTSA leads the nation in sacrifice flies with 25 on the season.
- The Roadrunners are averaging 8.0 runs a game the second-most in C-USA and 28th overall.
- Pitcher Luke Malone owns the lowest ERA in all of Conference USA with a 1.84. That ERA ranks 29th nationally.
- Opposing batters are hitting .244 against Malone. That's the ninth-lowest opponent batting average in the conference.
- Malone has allowed the tenth-fewest hits on the year (37) and third-fewest runs (13) in Conference USA. He has only allowed nine earned runs, the second-fewest in C-USA.
- Pitcher Daniel Shafer is tied for the fourth-most saves in C-USA with five.
- Sammy Diaz owns the eighth-best on-base percentage in Conference USA (.466).
- As part, Diaz has been hit by a pitch 11 times – third-most in C-USA.
- His 11 HBP are the 35th most drawn in the nation.
- Jonathan Tapia has hit the fourth-most doubles in C-USA (12) and has been hit by a pitch nine times on the year, placing him fifth in C-USA in that category.
- Being on base has helped him score 35 runs on the year. Third most in C-USA.
- Ian Bailey has logged the third most at-bats in the conference. In those at-bats he:
- Has the second-most triples of any C-USA player (3).
- Owns the sixth most RBI in the conference with 34.
- Is tied for the seventh most home runs with nine.
- Ryan Flores has drawn 25 walks on the season which ranks as the fourth most in C-USA.
- Flores and teammate Chase Keng both have four sacrifice flies on the year, placing them both in the top ten of that statistical category in Conference USA.
Weekend Information
Friday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m.
R-Jr. RHP, Luke Malone (4-1, 1.84 ERA) vs. Cooper Chandler (1-1, 4.13 ERA)
Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m.
Sr. RHP, Jacob Jimenez (2-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Alex DeLeon (1-0, 4.30 ERA)
Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m.
UTSA TBD vs. Rice TBD
All games will take place at Reckling Park and will be streamed on CUSA TV.
UP NEXT: UTSA will wrap up its eight-game road trip with a final stop in San Marcos to face the 19th-ranked Texas State Bobcats. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19, will be played at Bobcat Ballpark and will begin at 6 p.m.
- UTSA -