SAN ANTONIO – Sitting in second place in the Conference USA standings, UTSA baseball will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss. to face league-leading, eleventh-ranked, Southern Miss in a three-game series, starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park. The series will resume on Saturday at 2 p.m. and conclude on Sunday at 11 a.m. with all three games broadcast live on ESPN +.
UTSA (32-16, 16-8 C-USA) sits just two games back of powerhouse No. 11 Southern Miss (18-6) in the league standings with only six games remaining. The Roadrunners will head to Hattiesburg for their penultimate weekend series before returning home and concluding the regular-season schedule with UAB (11-13) May 19-21. The C-USA Championships will follow and are hosted by Southern Miss May 25-29.
This 2022 Roadrunner squad has an opportunity to make history within UTSA athletics as they continue to assert themselves as a potential NCAA Tournament at-large team, something no other UTSA team – in any sport with the same postseason structure – has ever accomplished. Following the second-best month of April record in school history (15-3), the Roadrunners have dropped three of their last five to begin the month of May and currently own a 59 RPI. Southern Miss enters the weekend series boasting the 26th best RPI in the country and the final season opponent, UAB, sits at 83 in the country. The Roadrunners have received votes in nine of twelve weeks, including the last six polls.
Weekend Pitching Matchups
UTSA will turn to sophomore righty Daniel Garza (2-0, 3.04 ERA) on Friday to face off with Southern Miss sophomore right-hander Tanner Hall (7-1, 2.31 ERA). On Saturday, junior righty Luke Malone with face graduate student right-hander Hunter Riggins (5-4, 3.18 ERA). Potential starters on Sunday include UTSA sophomore right-hander Drake Smith (0-0, 9.49 ERA) vs. sophomore right-hander Hurston Waldrep (5-1, 2.54 ERA).
A native of Houston, Texas, Garza will be making his fourth start of the year in his 11th appearance. He has worked 26.2 innings, allowing 28 hits and 16 walks, striking out 30 and holding foes to a .269 average. Last year, Garza worked 2.1 innings in relief vs. Southern Miss, allowing a run on three hits and a walk, striking out five. On Friday in a no-decision vs. Marshall, Garza worked 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs, walking four and striking out three. In his two-year career, Garza has appeared in 23 games with three starts, owning a 3-2 record and a 4.01 ERA in 49.1 innings, allowing 50 hits and 30 walks with 53 strikeouts.
Hall ranks as the ninth-best starting pitcher in the nation entering the weekend by D1baseball.com. Hall ranks as one of the best strikeout artists in college baseball, fanning 109 and walking just eight in 78 innings, allowing 64 hits and a .217 opponent average. On Friday vs. a hot-hitting ODU offense, Hall struck out 14 in eight innings, allowing three runs without issuing a walk, surrendering eight hits on 99 pitches in his first loss of the year, allowing single tallies in the second, fifth and eighth. Last year, Hall allowed three runs in an inning vs. UTSA in San Antonio, surrendering two hits and a walk.
Malone, a product of Round Rock, Texas, will be making his 12th start of the year in his 15th appearance. Malone owns the 20th most wins in UTSA single-season history and leads the team in innings (66.2) and strikeouts (49), allowing 63 hits and 12 walks, with foes hitting .244. Malone worked 1.2 innings in relief vs. USM last year, allowing three runs on a walk and two hits, striking out two. Last week in just his second loss of the year, Malone worked 3.1 innings vs. Marshall, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out one. In his UTSA career, Malone has worked in 35 games with 19 starts, going 9-4 with a 4.36 ERA in 115.2 innings, allowing 124 hits and 35 walks, striking out 85.
Riggins checks in as the 70th best pitcher in college baseball entering the series, as ranked by D1baseball.com. He has worked in 12 starts in 2022, tossing 68 innings with 63 hits and 15 walks allowed, striking out 61 with opponents hitting .240. On Saturday vs. ODU, Riggins worked six innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, striking out three.
Smith has appeared in nine games with three starts in 2021, working 12.1 innings, allowing 20 hits and eight walks, striking out 22. UTSA has also used Jacob Jimenez (2-1, 5.08 ERA), Braylon Owens (3-1, 5.40 ERA), Braden Davis (2-2, 5.77 ERA), Ulises Quiroga (1-3, 8.28 ERA) and Grant Miller (1-0, 9.00 ERA) in a weekend starting role. Last Sunday vs. Marshall, Smith worked two innings, allowing six hits and three runs, walking one and striking out five on 52 pitches.
Waldrep, who has thrown as high as 98 mph with his fastball during the season, enters the weekend ranked as the 27th best starting pitcher in college baseball by D1Baseball.com. He has started 12 games in 2022 and worked in 63.2 innings, allowing only 44 hits and 25 walks, striking out 93 with opponents hitting .195. In his start on Sunday vs. ODU, Waldrep allowed three runs on five hits and three walks, striking out 10 in six innings of a no-decision. Last year, Waldrep worked a shutout inning in the series finale vs. UTSA, allowing two hits.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA (32-16, 16-8 C-USA) has dropped three of its last five as it heads into a pivotal weekend series Hattiesburg. The Roadrunners have hit .300/.401/.471 with 393 runs in 48 games, ripping 108 doubles, 13 triples and 51 homers, stealing 25 bases. On the mound, UTSA has a collective 5.21 team ERA across 416.1 innings, allowing 402 hits and 235 walks, striking out 445 opponents with the opposition hitting .250. On the defensive side, UTSA is fielding at a .967 clip.
At the plate, senior centerfielder Shane Sirdashney leads the club with a .360 average, owning 10 doubles, three homers and 29 RBI. Senior second baseman Leyton Barry has hit .337 with 12 doubles, two triples, four homers and 33 RBI, while junior catcher Sammy Diaz has hit .316 with four homers and 26 RBI, owning a 16-11 walk-strikeout ratio in 133 at-bats. Fifth-year senior Jonathan Tapia has hit .310 with 19 doubles, five homers and 40 RBI, while fellow fifth-year senior rightfielder Chase Keng owns a .306 average with 14 doubles, two triples, six homers and 50 RBI. Sixth-year graduate-senior leftfielder Ian Bailey has batted .295 with 12 doubles, three triples, 12 homers and 44 RBI. Senior first baseman Ryan Flores has hit .295 with eight homers and 41 RBI, while sophomore Garrett Poston owns a .302 average with a homer and 21 RBI and freshman shortstop Matt King has hit .237 with 10 doubles and 22 RBI. Sophomore catcher Josh Killeen has added a .341 average with three homers and 19 RBI.
In relief, Daniel Shafer (3-1, 3.29 ERA) owns the 12th-most saves in UTSA single season history (five) with 38 strikeouts and just 13 hits allowed in 27.1 innings. John Chomko (2-0, 3.10 ERA), Simon Miller (3-3, 3.09 ERA), Ryan Ward (1-0, 4.80 ERA), Ryan Beaird (2-3, 5.82 ERA), Fischer Kingsbery (0-0, 5.29 ERA) and Reece Easterling (2-0, 7.43 ERA) have each appeared in double-digit games in relief. Simon Miller has struck out 46 in 32 innings.
Series history
The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series with UTSA, 18-7, including a 7-1 mark in games played in Hattiesburg against the Roadrunners. Southern Miss swept UTSA in the last meeting in the series, outscoring the Roadrunners 33-15 over the three-game span. The Golden Eagles hold a 5-2 edge over the Roadrunners in series between the two programs.
Scouting Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles (36-13, 18-6 C-USA) have hit .275 as a team through 49 games, with 304 runs scored, 60 homers and a 205-343 walk-strikeout ratio, stealing 16 bases. On the mound, Southern Miss boasts a solid 3.09 team ERA in 443 innings, allowing 370 hits and 125 walks, striking out 562 and holding foes to a .226 average. Defensively, Marshall has fielded .974 with 47 errors in 49 outings.
Southern Miss is coming off a C-USA series loss to Old Dominion at home where they took just one game, the finale, and needed extra innings to do so. Most recently, The Golden Eagles were taken down on Wednesday night by in-state foe Ole Miss, 4-1. Southern Miss has shown it is beatable over the past couple of weeks, as the Golden Eagles have dropped two straight weekend series as the Roadrunners have begun to close the gap, only being two games back.
Infielder Dustin Dickerson leads the Southern Miss with a .342 average, owning 19 doubles and 26 RBI, stealing four bases. Outfielder Reece Ewing has hit .304 with six doubles, two triples, eight homers and 29 RBI, while utility player Christopher Sargent has hit .245 with 15 homers and 46 RBI, both leading the team. Infielder Will McGillis has hit .286 with 14 homers, 41 RBI and 10 doubles. In relief, Landon Harper (2-1, 1.62 ERA) has appeared in a team-leading 22 games with nine saves in 33.1 innings, walking six and striking out 37.
Schedule
Friday * UTSA at Southern Miss * 6:30 p.m. [ESPN +]
Saturday * UTSA vs. Southern Miss * 2 p.m. [ESPN +]
Sunday * UTSA vs. Southern Miss * 11 a.m. [ESPN +]
Projected Weekend Rotation
Friday
So. RHP Daniel Garza (2-0, 3.04 ERA) vs. So. RHP Tanner Hall (7-1, 2.31 ERA)
Saturday
R-Jr. RHP Luke Malone (7-2, 2.56 ERA) vs. Grad RHP Hunter Riggins (5-4, 3.18 ERA)
Sunday
UTSA TBD vs. So. RHP Hurston Waldrep (5-1, 2.54 ERA)
UP NEXT: UTSA will return home next weekend as it plays host to fellow Conference USA school UAB. The regular season series finale will take place over the May 19-21. Unlike every other weekend series format, the final series of the season will take place over a Thursday-Saturday timeframe. All games will be played at Roadrunner Field and each game will be broadcast on CUSA TV.
- UTSA -
