SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team secured the series sweep over Florida Atlantic with two wins on Sunday at Roadrunner Field, taking the first game by 7-2 and second game by 5-3.
The Roadrunners and Owls played a pair of seven-inning games today, after Saturday's game was postponed due to inclement weather and poor playing conditions.
QUICK HITS
- With today's wins, the Roadrunners extend their winning streak to 10 games, the second-longest in school history (longest is 12 in 1994) and fifth longest active streak amongst NCAA Division I schools this season.
- Going 3-0 in the first weekend of conference play, the Roadrunners sit atop the Conference USA standings, along with Rice (3-0 vs UAB this weekend).
- Ulises Quiroga started the first game of the doubleheader, earning his fourth win (4-0) as he struck out nine batters in 6.1 innings pitched.
- In game one, three Roadrunners recorded a team-high two hits, including Shane Sirdashney, Caleb Hill and Sammy Diaz, while Garrett Poston went yard for his second homerun of the season.
- In game two, Simon Miller earned his conference-leading fifth win, while Daniel Shafer earned his conference-best third save.
- Leyton Barry and Isaiah Walker led the Roadrunners with two hits apiece in the second game of the doubleheader. Three Roadrunners blasted homeruns in the game, including Barry's third of the season, Walker's second and Matt King's third.
- Antonio Valdez has reached base in all 21 games this season.
- The Roadrunners improve to an 18-3 record and open up conference play 3-0, while Florida Atlantic falls to a 12-9 record and 0-3 in C-USA action.
- This marks the Roadrunners second consecutive weekend sweep and their first in conference play.
GAME ONE: UTSA 7, FAU 2
The first two innings went scoreless as starting pitcher Quiroga struck out three batters and kept the Owls to just one hit. The Roadrunners opened up scoring in the third as a fielder's choice hit into by King, a double by Hill and a single by Diaz put UTSA up by 4-0.
Florida Atlantic plated a run in the fourth to cut the Roadrunners' lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the fifth, UTSA used a single by Hill and two-run homerun by Poston to further their advantage to 7-1. Although the Owls brought around another run in the top of the seventh, closer Shafer shut down Florida Atlantic's rally with a strikeout and led UTSA to a 7-2 win to begin the doubleheader.
GAME TWO: UTSA 5, FAU 3
Once again, the Roadrunners scored first in the second game of the doubleheader. A pair of solo homeruns by Barry and King gave UTSA a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
After starting pitcher Ryan Beaird kept the Owls scoreless in the first inning, Daniel Garza came in to relieve him in the second and proceeded to strike out the side to keep FAU off the board. Garza and Simon Miller combined to force another zero on the board in the third frame.
The Owls got their first run across in the fourth to cut UTSA's lead to 2-1. The Roadrunners quickly changed that in the bottom of the frame though, as Walker blasted a two-run homerun to extend the advantage to 4-1.
Florida Atlantic scored another run in the top of the fifth inning, but UTSA responded with one of their own in the bottom of the frame. After Hill was hit by pitch, Diaz doubled to right center to drive in Hill and push UTSA's lead to 5-2.
The sixth inning went scoreless as both teams were sat down in order. Coming in to close out the game for the second game in a row, Shafer sat down the Owls with three straight flyouts to centerfield in the sixth. A single and double to start the seventh brought home FAU's third and final run of the game. Shafer then sat down the next three batters with a flyout, groundout and popup to lead UTSA to a 5-3 win to conclude the doubleheader.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners head to South Texas to face UTRGV on March 21 in Edinburg, Texas at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
-UTSA-