SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team secured the series victory over Saint Mary's with a 4-2 win over the Gaels on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
In his first start of the season, Ryan Beaird struck out two batters and allowed two runs on four hits in 4.0 innings of work. Antonio Valdez notched his third straight multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and a run, along with a triple. Daniel Garza earned the win (2-0) as he pitched the final five innings and kept the Gaels to no runs on just three hits, while striking out five.
The Gaels jumped ahead early as their shortstop Jared Mettam opened up the first inning with a home run. The Roadrunners struggled against Saint Mary's starting pitcher Ryan Wiltse, going down in order for the first four innings. Beaird allowed a couple base runners in the second but got out of the frame unscathed. The Gaels added another run to their lead with another home run, this time by Bill Ralston to extend their lead to 2-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Roadrunners put their first run on the board as Valdez scored on a groundout by Tye Odom. UTSA then added three more runs to take a 4-2 lead in the sixth frame. After a groundout to begin the inning, three straight singles loaded the bases for Valdez, who has had an unstoppable bat to start the season. After watching the first ball in the zone for a strike, Valdez unleashed on the second of the at-bat to bring home all three runners and give UTSA the lead.
Although the Gaels got a few runners on base, they weren't able to convert that to runs as Garza shut them out in the last three innings. Garza sat down the Gaels in order in the top of the ninth on a fly out, ground out and strikeout, as UTSA took a 4-2 win over Saint Mary's in the series finale.
The Roadrunners improve to a 6-2 record, while Saint Mary's falls to a 2-7 record.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners hit the road for their first away game of the season, playing Baylor on Feb. 28 in Waco, Texas. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark and will be streamed on ESPN+/Big12 Now.
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