SAN ANTONIO – Luke Malone, Jonathan Tapia, Leyton Barry and Matt King have all earned Conference USA honors, as voted on by fellow league members, it was announced by the conference on Tuesday. The four honorees were the most on a single UTSA squad since the 2015 program which also had four members recognized.
Malone, a Round Rock native, became the first pitcher to earn first-team All-Conference USA recognition since Karan Patel did so in 2019. He is one of just four Roadrunners – dating back to 1992 – to earn first-team All-Conference recognition on the mound.
Malone began his collegiate career at Texas A&M Corpus Christi before transferring to UTSA following his freshman campaign. As a redshirt-junior, Malone has been UTSA's ace, boasting a 2.82 ERA across 76.2 innings pitched. Malone has allowed just 24 earned runs on 73 hits with 57 strikeouts. Opposing batters are hitting just .245 against him and he has walked just 13 batters on the year.
MAYDAY ‼️
— UTSA Baseball ⚾️ (@UTSABSB) May 24, 2022
UTSA pitcher @LukeMalone44 has earned first team All-Conference as a starting pitcher.
Malone is just the fourth Roadrunner to make an all-conference first team as a pitcher.#BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/9ieaTsKIkd
One of San Antonio's own, an O'Connor HS graduate, Tapia was named to the second-team All-Conference USA as a utility player. He is the first player in team history to be recognized as an all-conference utility player. Tapia has made starts at six of the nine positions this season and has played seven different positions throughout his collegiate career (excluding pitcher and catcher).
JT ‼️
— UTSA Baseball ⚾️ (@UTSABSB) May 24, 2022
Versatile Roadrunner @jt_tapia1 has been named All-Conference USA second team as a utility player.
Tapia has played six different positions on the season and has played every position but pitcher and catcher over his career.#BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/ZBRWcYQHNf
Tapia is slashing .310/.419/.486 on the year and has started every game he has played. In 210 at-bats, Tapia has 65 hits, resulting in 45 RBI. Of his 65 hits, 25 have been for extra bases, including a team-high 19 doubles. Earlier in the season, Tapia set the school record for most times being hit by a pitch in a career.
A product of Houston via IMG Academy (Fla.), Barry joined Tapia on the second-team all-conference list. Barry has been a constant at second base all season long for the Roadrunners. He owns the second highest batting average on the team with a .336 as he's got 72 hits in 214 at-bats. Barry owns two four-hit games on the year and back when the Roadrunners hosted No. 2 Stanford, Barry hit the walk-off base single to give UTSA the massive win. Of Barry's 72 hits, 19 are for extra bases as he has 13 doubles, two triples and four home runs.
UTSA second baseman @leyton_barry joins teammate Jonathan Tapia on the All-Conference second team as an infielder.
— UTSA Baseball ⚾️ (@UTSABSB) May 24, 2022
UTSA's two All-Conference second team members are the school's most since 2017.
BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/d7gzJJLrpt
King, a first-year from Kingwood, landed on the All-Freshman team. King is the first Roadrunner to make the All-Freshman team since both Joshua Lamb and Dylan Rock were named to the All-Freshman team in 2018. King has made 40 starts on the year and 38 have been at shortstop (with the other two being DH). King has played the majority of the Roadrunners' games as their primary option at short. He has scored 27 runs on 33 hits in 143 at-bats with 24 RBI for UTSA. King drew 17 walks and was hit by a pitch nine times. Of his 33 hits, 12 have been for extra bases. He owns 10 doubles a triple and a home run on the year.
All-Freshman Team Alert 🚨
— UTSA Baseball ⚾️ (@UTSABSB) May 24, 2022
Roadrunner @mking_33 has earned a spot on the league's All-Freshman squad.
He's the first Roadrunner to make an All-Freshman team since Dylan Rock and Joshua Lamb did so in 2018.#BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/dk4hzlRyng
The Roadrunners will return to action in the first-round of the C-USA Championships, facing fourth seeded FAU at 7:30 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
2022 All-Conference Awards
Player of the Year
Matt Coutney, Sr., 3B/1B, Old Dominion
Pitcher of the Year
Tanner Hall, So., RHP, Southern Miss
Freshman of the Year
Blake Morgan, Fr., LHP, Old Dominion
Defensive Player of the Year
Logan McLeod, So., INF, Louisiana Tech
Newcomer of the Year
Gabriel Rincones, Jr., So., OF, Florida Atlantic
Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
Scott Berry, Southern Miss
Assistant Coach of the Year
Christian Ostrander, Southern Miss
First Team All-Conference
C – Brock Gagliardi, Old Dominion
INF – Matt Coutney, Old Dominion
INF – Nolan Schanuel, Florida Atlantic
INF – Taylor Young, LA Tech
INF – Jack Dragum, Charlotte
OF – Andy Garriola, Old Dominion
OF – Cole McConnell, LA Tech
OF – Gabriel Rincones, Jr., Florida Atlantic
P – Tanner Hall, Southern Miss
P – Blake Morgan, Old Dominion
P – Hurston Waldrep, Southern Miss
P – Luke Malone, UTSA
RP – Kyle Crigger, LA Tech
RP – Landon Harper, Southern Miss
DH – David McCabe, Charlotte
UTIL – Luke Edwards, Marshall
Second Team All-Conference
C – Jorge Corona, LA Tech
INF – Leyton Barry, UTSA
INF – Nate Furman, Charlotte
INF – Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss
INF – JT Mabry, Middle Tennessee
OF – Carter Trice, Old Dominion
OF – Cam Fisher, Charlotte
OF – Dylan Goldstein, Florida Atlantic
P – Hunter Cooley, Florida Atlantic
P – Jaden Hamm, Middle Tennessee
P – Trent Seibert, Middle Tennessee
P – Cade Gibson, LA Tech
RP – Ryan Harland, LA Tech
RP – Collin Taylor, UAB
DH – Christian Hall, UAB
UTIL – Jonathan Tapia, UTSA
All-Freshman Team
P – Blake Morgan, Old Dominion
OF – Carson Paetow, Southern Miss
OF – Cam Fisher, Charlotte
P – Ryan Harland, LA Tech
C/DH – Ty Batusich, WKU
P – Collin Kramer, Charlotte
P – James Sells, Middle Tennessee
INF – Aaron Smigelski, Rice
C – Henry Hunter, UAB
INF – Matt King, UTSA
P – Thomas Ballard, UAB
- UTSA -