HOUSTON – UTSA won its fourth game in a row, as it defeated Rice in Friday's series opener, winning 9-2.
The Roadrunners (23-11, 8-5 C-USA) got three home runs on the day to power the UTSA offense. Jonathan Tapia, Chase Keng and Shane Sirdashney all homered on the day and each player had three hits. It was the first game multiple Roadrunners had homers since the 3/30 outing at TCU. Tapia finished with a team-high three RBI and Keng was the only other Roadrunner with more than one as he plated two on the day.
The Roadrunners trotted out Friday starter Luke Malone for the series-opening game. The Round Rock native went for 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out two and walking three. Malone would exit the game with one on and one out in the seventh as Braylon Owens entered. Owens went on to pitch the remaining 2.2 innings of play and only allowed two hits over that time while he struck out three. Owens' outing was the longest stint of his college career as he did so in his eighth appearance.
Rice (10-25, 3-10 C-USA) starter Cooper Chandler pitched for 3.1 innings and allowed six runs on six hits to go along with five punchouts. Entering for Chandler was Garret Zaskoda. Zaskoda went for a solid 3.2 innings as he allowed one run on five hits after facing 16 batters. David Shaw would enter in the eighth in relief of Zaskoda. Shaw would go for an inning and an out, surrendering two hits and two runs before being replaced by Dalton Wood. Wood then finished out the ninth without surrendering a hit or run.
UTSA got the scoring started in the top of the second inning. Leadoff man Chase Keng sent a double all the way to the leftfield wall, a foot higher and the ball would have been gone. After Keng's double, Shane Sirdashney singled to center to put runners on the corners. Garrett Poston stepped up to the plate and poked a single to centerfield to plate Keng. Then, with one out, Jonathan Tapia stepped into the box and sent a deep fly ball over the leftfield wall for his fourth homer of the year. The three-run blast along with Poston's RBI single had UTSA up after two, 4-0.
The Roadrunners added another run to their lead in the third inning thanks to outfielder Chase Keng. Keng, who had a three-home run game against Rice last year, sent a ball over the leftfield fence and notched his fourth homer of the year to put UTSA up 5-0.
Rice got on the board in the bottom of the frame, as the Owls were able to cut the UTSA lead to three. Rice's first four at-bats resulted in the bases loaded with one out. With the table set, Guy Garibay punched a double to right-centerfield to plate two and get the Owls on the board.
UTSA tacked on a sixth run in the fourth. The inning began with a Poston single and two batters later matched with a single of his own. Thanks to the pair of singles, UTSA had runners on the corners with Leyton Barry up to bat. Barry sent a high fly ball to leftfield and the ball was just deep enough to allow Poston to score, crediting a sac fly to Barry. The inning ended with UTSA leading 6-2.
Both teams would then be scoreless for the next three innings. In the top of the eighth, UTSA centerfielder Shane Sirdashney cranked a home run to left field. The homer was Sirdashney's second on the season and put the Roadrunners up 7-1.
The Roadrunners tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Leyton Barry led the inning off with a single and Diaz followed that up by reaching on a throwing error. The throwing error advanced both runners to second and third and Diaz was subbed out for Josh Killeen who pinch ran. Ryan Flores was next up, and the lefty sent a deep sacrifice fly to left field to plate Barry. A pitch later and Killeen was on third after advancing on a wild pitch. Then Chase Keng ripped a single to leftfield to score Killeen and make the game 9-2 in favor of UTSA.
Friday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: Jonathan Tapia (4), Chase Keng (4), Shane Sirdashney (2)
Rice: N/A
WP – Luke Malone (5-1): 6.1 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Cooper Chandler (1-6): 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Up Next
UTSA will be back at Reckling Park tomorrow, April 16, to face Rice in the second game of the weekend series. The game will feature righty Jacob Jimenez on the mound for UTSA against Rice's senior righty, Alex DeLeon. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed on CUSA TV.
- UTSA -
