SAN ANTONIO – Garrett Poston drove home the winning run with a single in the bottom of the eighth and Braylon Owens earned the win with 2.2 shutout innings in relief, leading UTSA baseball to a 9-8 sweep-clinching win over FIU, on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (27-13, 12-6 Conference USA) won its 14th game in its last 17 tries to sweep the series with FIU, which marked the fourth consecutive league series win for the Roadrunners. UTSA improved to 15-3 at home with the win. UTSA outscored the Panthers 29-13 over the three-game series, earning a 12-4 win in the opener and an 8-1 win in the middle game.
UTSA had to claw back throughout the game, falling behind after a two-run first inning and trailing 4-1 entering the fifth. The Roadrunners scored five in the fifth to take their first lead but the Panthers scored two in each the sixth and seventh inning for an 8-6 lead. UTSA rallied to even the game in the bottom of the seventh and got the clutch hit from Poston in the eighth to plate the go-ahead run. Owens then locked down the win with a perfect ninth.
The Roadrunners got three homers in the game, with Leyton Barry belting his second of the year in a 3-for-4, two-RBI game. Jonathan Tapia hit his career-high fifth homer of the year and Shane Sirdashney had his third – a big three-run blast in the five-run fifth that gave UTSA its first lead. Poston, Ryan Flores and Josh Killeen each had two hits, with Kody Darcy and Chase Keng adding knocks.
The Roadrunners started Drake Smith in his first career start and his seventh outing. He worked three innings, allowing three hits and two runs, striking out six. Daniel Garza opened the fourth and worked two complete innings before loading the bases in the sixth with a walk and two singles. He recorded a strikeout for the first out, before giving way to Daniel Shafer. Garza ended his outing going 2.1 innings, allowing five hits and four runs – two earned – on a walk with four strikeouts.
Shafer worked an inning, allowing a pair of walks and a strikeout, surrendering two runs that scored after he exited. Owens replaced Shafer and after allowing the two tying runs to score, settled in to turn in a clutch outing. He worked 2.2 shutout innings to earn the win, allowing three singles and a walk, striking out two.
FIU starter Carlos Lequerica worked three innings, allowing three hits and a run, issuing a walk and recording a strikeout. Ryan Cabarcas opened the fourth, working two innings, allowing five hits and five runs, striking out four. Orlando Hernandez worked a shutout sixth inning before FIU turned to Angel Tiburcio (2-3) in the seventh, suffered the loss, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk.
FIU (11-26, 4-14 C-USA) struck first in the top of the first inning, getting a single from Alec Sanchez with one out before Jorge Ramirez cranked a two-run home run out to leftfield for a 2-0 lead, his fourth home run of the year.
Barry got the Roadrunners on the board with a leadoff homer in the third inning, a no-doubt blast down the rightfield line, his second round-tripper of the year.
FIU scored a pair in the fourth inning to great Garza on the mound and take a 4-1 lead. Ruben Carpio ripped a two-out double into the left-centerfield gap, scoring Noel Perez and Jorge Ramirez, who singled.
UTSA rallied in the bottom of the fifth, getting a hustle double from Keng, his 12th of the year, motoring to third on a Killeen single into left. Barry followed with a single into shallow centerfield, scoring Keng. Darcy then loaded the bases with a perfectly placed bunt single. Tapia then scored Killeen with a sac fly lined to rightfield, cutting the lead to 4-3. Sirdashney then smashed an 0-1 offering out to leftfield for a go-ahead, three-run homer, his third of the year, to put UTSA up 6-4.
FIU evened up the game in the sixth, taking advantage of a two-out throwing error on what would have ended the inning, allowing a pair of Panthers to score. With the bases loaded and two outs, Shafer induced an easy grounder to the left side. The attempt to get the runner on second out with a casual flip to third base sailed into the dirt and rolled to the backstop, plating Perez and Ramirez.
The Panthers took the lead in the top of the seventh, getting walks from Ramirez and Alec Sanchez before UTSA pulled Shafer due to injury. Owens entered and allowed a first-pitch single to Perez and a two-run knock to Jayden Melendez to give FIU an 8-6 lead.
Tapia led off the seventh with his fifth homer of the year, a line-drive pulled out to leftfield to cut the lead to 8-7. After an out, Sirdashney ripped a double into the right-centerfield gap and came around to score on an RBI single from Flores, yanked through the right side of the infield.
The bottom of the eighth started with a two-strike single from Killeen, who was pinch ran for by Isaiah Walker. After a pair of outs, Walker stole second base to get into scoring position. Tapia drew a walk to bring up Poston, who chopped a single up the middle to score the speedy Walker from second.
Sunday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: Leyton Barry (2), Shane Sirdashney (3), Jonathan Tapia (5)
FIU: Jorge Ramirez (4)
WP – Braylon Owens (2-1): 2.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Angel Tiburcio (2-3): 2.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up Next
UTSA will welcome I-35 rival Texas State to Roadrunner Field on Tuesday, April 26. The Roadrunners and Bobcats will be playing their second game in a week, as the two squads previously met on April 19 where Texas State held off a furious UTSA rally and won, 14-12. First pitch for Tuesday's game is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on CUSA TV.
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