SAN ANTONIO – Antonio Valdez stole home in the eight to lead the UTSA baseball team to a 2-1 victory over UIW on Wednesday night at Roadrunner Field.
Antonio Valdez, a former UIW Cardinal, was the star of the night as he stole home for UTSA's go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a pitcher's duel. Sammy Diaz led the Roadrunners as he went 2-for-4 at the plate. Starting pitcher Ryan Ward went three innings and allowed just one run on two hits while striking out two batters. Freshman Ruger Riojas continues to dazzle as he pitched the middle three innings and kept the Cardinals scoreless on just a single hit with a career-high six strikeouts. Simon Miller shut down UIW in the final three innings, allowing three hits and fanning three batters, to earn his third win of the season (3-0).
The Cardinals opened up the game with a solo home run in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. The Roadrunners knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. A fielder's choice, single and walk loaded the bases for Garrett Poston. After watching the first pitch of his at-bat land in the strike zone, Poston remained patient and watched four straight balls to earn the walk. With nowhere for him to go, all the runners advanced as Tye Odom came in to score.
The next five innings went scoreless as both teams dealt from the mound. Both the Cardinals and Roadrunners went down in order in the third. Across the fourth frame, three runners got on base but neither team was able to score. Riojas struck out the side in the top of the fourth, before getting the Cardinals down on two groundouts and another strikeout in the fifth. Valdez worked a walk in the bottom of the fifth but the Roadrunners were unable to do anything with it as the pitcher's duel continued. The sixth and seventh inning went similarly as either team had a couple base runners but didn't do much with them.
Things began to heat up in the eighth inning. The Cardinals had a few base runners on due to a fielder's choice and single but Miller shut down the final batter with a strikeout swinging to get out the inning unscathed. In the bottom of the frame, Valdez worked a walk from a full count. A few batters later, there were two outs and runners on first and third. As Killeen stole second base, the pitcher threw to second to attempt to get him out, setting up the perfect opportunity for Valdez to steal home for the go-ahead run. With a close game at hand, Miller finished out the ninth as he forced two groundouts to start, before allowing a single. He finished it with another groundout to secure UTSA's 2-1 win over UIW in the first of two hometown showdown games scheduled for this season.
The Roadrunners improve to a 8-2 record, while UIW falls to a 3-6 overall record.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners stay home to host a three-game series against Pac-12 opponent Utah on Friday-Sunday at Roadrunner Field.
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