HOUSTON – The Roadrunner baseball squad picked up its fifth win in a row on Saturday, as UTSA dominated Rice on the road, winning 15-4.
The Roadrunners (24-11, 9-5 C-USA) got a balanced offensive performance to blow past the Rice Owls in game two of the Easter weekend series. The win made it five in a row for UTSA, making it the third time this year that the Roadrunners have gone on at least a five-game winning streak. The Roadrunner offense put forth 10+ runs for the 13th time this season as 37% of the time they are scoring in double digits.
Sammy Diaz led the offensive charge for UTSA, as the junior backstop had four hits on the day, leading the team. First baseman Ryan Flores chipped in three hits and three RBI, all of which came on a monster three-run home run that he blasted in the fourth inning. Also chipping in three RBI on the day was rightfielder Chase Keng, who for the second game in a row put forth three RBI. Freshman shortstop Matt King led the team however in RBI, as the Kingwood native brought four across, tying his career high. UTSA also had success gaining free passes around the bases. Designated hitter Garrett Poston drew three walks on the day, while Shane Sirdashney was hit by a pitch twice on the day.
UTSA started senior right-hander Jacob Jimenez for Saturday's contest. Jimenez went for 2.1 innings and gave up three runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Entering in the third for Jimenez was senior southpaw Grant Miller. Miller would pitch for an inning, recording three outs with one punchout. Then it was freshman Ryan Beaird's turn. Beaird entered in the fourth and pitched for two innings. The freshman allowed one run on three hits and fanned one. Next up was Daniel Shafer (3-1) who went for 2.1 innings. Shafer allowed three hits and punched out three in his time on the mound. Lastly, Reece Easterling's number was called. Easterling got the final out in the eighth and closed the ninth, as the senior allowed just one hit and struck out two.
Rice (10-26, 3-11 C-USA) starter Alex DeLeon (2-2) pitched for four innings on the day. DeLeon allowed seven runs on eight hits before being replaced with Roel Garcia. Garcia worked the middle innings, going for 2.1 innings total. Garcia would end up allowing three runs (1 unearned) on three hits before his day was done. Entering in place of Garcia in the seventh was Christian Cienfuegos. Ciefuegos would close out the seventh for Rice and allowed five runs on two hits in his 0.2 innings of work. Lastly, the Owls trotted out Mark Perkins. Perkins would close out the game and limited UTSA to just one hit during that time.
The Roadrunners got on the board first for the second game in a row. Ian Bailey got the inning started for UTSA, as he doubled down the leftfield line. Bailey then advanced to third thanks to a Rice wild pitch. With Bailey now on third, Deer Park native Chase Keng sent a deep sacrifice fly into center, allowing Bailey to come home and put the Roadrunners up, 1-0.
Rice got in the scoring column at the bottom of the third. After the first Owl at-bat resulted in a groundout, Rice used two singles and a walk to load the bases. Guy Garibay was at bat and grounded into a fielder's choice. UTSA tried to turn two, but the play resulted in a throwing error as only one Owl was out and two came across, putting Garibay on second. The next batter, Aaron Smigelski, hit a grounder to first that just got under the mitt and Garibay was able to race home from second. After committing two errors, UTSA found itself in a 3-1 hole.
UTSA struck back with an offensive explosion in the top of the fourth. After a first at-bat strikeout, UTSA got runners on the corners thanks to a Shane Sirdashney HBP and a single from Garrett Poston. Freshman shortstop Matt King executed a perfect RBI sac bunt, sending it down the first baseline to score Sirdashney and move Poston to second. The next batter was Jonathan Tapia, who sent a single through the left side which would score Poston. Leyton Barry followed Tapia's single up with one of his own, placing Roadrunners on the corners. Sammy Diaz made it three UTSA singles in a row, as the catcher ripped one into rightfield and scored Tapia. Then, with runners on first and second, Ryan Flores launched his sixth home run of the year over the right field wall. The home run capped off a six-run fourth inning for the Roadrunners. After the dust settled, UTSA found itself back in front, as it held a 7-3 lead.
The Roadrunners would tack on another run in the top of the sixth. Matt King got the inning started with a single through the left side. Two batters later and Leyton Barry was hit by a pitch as UTSA had runners on first and second. With two on and one out, Diaz ripped a single through the left side to score King as UTSA's lead grew to five.
Rice got the run back in the bottom of the frame. Leftfielder Austin Bolman doubled down the left line to get a runner on the path for the Owls. Then, with two outs, centerfielder Jack Ben-Shoshan matched Bolman's double down the left line with one of his own. The RBI double from Ben-Shoshan brought Bolman home and UTSA's lead was down to four as they led 8-4.
UTSA got back in the scoring column in the top of the seventh. Sirdashney was able to reach after a fielding error by the Rice third baseman. Following the error, Poston drew a walk to get runners on first and second. Then, with one out, freshman shortstop Matt King hung a ball just over the left fielder's head. The hit ended up as a two-RBI double as both baserunners came home and King ended up on second. King's big double pushed the UTSA lead to eight, as they now led 10-4.
The Roadrunners added five more runs to their total in the eighth. The inning began with a single from Diaz which was followed by back-to-back walks from Ryan Flores and Ian Bailey. With the bases loaded, Keng ripped a double through the right side which would score both Diaz and Flores. The very next batter, Sirdashney, was hit by a pitch for the second time on the day and the bases were once again loaded. The Roadrunners would then draw back-to-back walks with the bases loaded, adding two more to their inning total. With no outs, Tapia grounded into a double play and a run came across. At the end of the inning, UTSA found itself in possession of a 15-4 lead.
Saturday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: Ryan Flores (6)
Rice: N/A
WP – Daniel Shafer (3-1): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Alex DeLeon (2-2): 4.0 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
Up Next
UTSA will be back at Reckling Park tomorrow, April 17, to face Rice in an Easter Sunday series finale. The game will feature freshman righty Braden Davis on the mound for UTSA against Rice's sophomore southpaw, Thomas Burbank. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on CUSA TV.
- UTSA -
