BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 25 UTSA baseball team was propelled by selfless hitting to secure its 10thseries victory of the season, defeating UAB by 9-4 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Young Memorial Field.
QUICK HITS
- Three Roadrunners collected two hits apiece, including Taylor Smith, Caleb Hill and Sammy Diaz.
- UTSA collected two sacrifice flies and a season-high four sacrifice hits in a true small ball game.
- Starting pitcher Ulises Quiroga earned his seventh win of the season (7-2), striking out five in 5.2 inning pitched.
- Simon Miller earned his ninth save, keeping the Blazers scoreless while striking out three in the final three frames.
- This marks the Roadrunners 10th series victory this season, winning every single one of their full weekend series.
- The Roadrunners improved to a 33-11 overall record (16-4 in C-USA action), while UAB fell to a 14-29 overall record (5-16 in conference play).
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Roadrunners wasted no time taking a 1-0 lead in the first frame. Josh Killeen got things started with a walk, before Smith followed that with a single. A sacrifice bunt by Hill put runners in second and third. Matt King then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Killeen from third. In the bottom of the frame, UAB quickly responded with a two-RBI single to take a 2-1 lead.
The second and third innings went scoreless as the Roadrunners went down in order in both frames. During that span, Quiroga worked through a couple jams to put up a couple scoreless frames and force the Blazers to strand three runners.
In the top of the fourth, the first two Roadrunners reached base before moving to scoring position thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Antonio Valdez. Then, a groundout by Leyton Barry drove in Hill to tie the score up at 2-2. Diaz followed that with a first-pitch single to bring around King and give UTSA the 3-2 lead. Once again, UAB responded in the bottom of the frame as a solo home run knotted the score at 3-3.
UTSA loaded up the bases with a walk, single and bunt single in the top of the fifth frame. After an out, Valdez worked a five-pitch walk while forcing Killeen home to regain the 4-3 lead for the Roadrunners.
After a pitching change, a double by Barry scored a pair of runs and a sacrifice fly by Diaz brought home another to extend UTSA's lead to 7-3. Quiroga allowed a double to start the bottom of the inning but worked quickly getting the next three outs on just five pitches to force a scoreless frame.
The Blazers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-4, still in favor of UTSA. In a bit of a jam and wanting to preserve the lead, the Roadrunners brought in Fischer Kingsbery to end the frame and he did exactly that with a strikeout.
Kingsbery struggled in the next inning, walking the first batter and allowing a single to the second batter in the bottom of the seventh.
The Roadrunners then turned to their closer to shut down the final few frames as Miller came in and struck out two batters and forced a popout to end the seventh frame without any damage.
UTSA added some cushion to their lead in the eighth frame as Hill beat a sacrifice bunt to first for a single as Dalton Porter came in to score and extend UTSA's advantage to 8-4.
On the mound, Miller got the first two outs quickly in the bottom of the eighth, forcing two groundouts on four pitches. The junior then reached a hiccup when he walked the next two batters but got out of it with a fielder's choice out.
For good measure, the Roadrunners added another insurance run in the top of the ninth frame as an RBI single by Shane Sirdashney extended UTSA's lead to 9-4.
Miller walked back out on the mound to seal the deal and once again worked quickly against the Blazers. He recorded a flyout, strikeout and groundout on nine pitched in the final frame, leading UTSA to a 9-4 series finale win over UAB and securing the series victory.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners return home for a seven-game homestand, beginning with a Tuesday, May 2nd matchup against Sam Houston. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at Roadrunner Field on CUSA.tv.
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