SAN ANTONIO – Despite a fantastic four-hit performance from junior Matt King, the UTSA Baseball team fell to the Tarleton Texans, 14-10, on Tuesday afternoon at Pat Kenelley Diamond in Stephenville, Texas.
QUICK HITS
· Junior third baseman Matt King exploded in a 4-for-5 game with a double and two runs.
· Four more Roadrunners collected multi-hit games as Alexander Olivo, Mason Lytle, James Taussig and Broc Parmer turned in two hits apiece.
· In his UTSA debut, junior Conor Myles tallied three strikeouts in 2.2 IP.
· The Roadrunners fall to 2-3, while the Texans improve to 2-2
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Texans opened up scoring early with a solo homerun in the bottom of the first, but the Roadrunners responded in the top of the second as Lytle scored on a passed ball to even the score at 1-1.
Tarleton broke the game open with four runs scored in the bottom of the second, taking a 5-1 lead. UTSA cut its deficit to 5-2 in the top of the third as Caleb Hill came in to score on a groundout. In the bottom of the third inning, Braylon Owens posted a clean inning with a pair of strikeouts to keep the Texans off the board.
In the fourth inning, Tarleton broke loose again, adding three runs to take a 8-2 lead. The fifth inning went scoreless as junior Conor Myles made his UTSA debut and kept the Texans off the board and struck out the first batter he faced.
The Roadrunners used that momentum to chip away at their deficit in the top of the sixth frame. A single by Taussig brought home a pair of runs, before a two-run homerun by Broc Parmer cut UTSA’s deficit to 8-6. In the bottom of inning, Myles forced another 1-2-3 frame as he sat the Texans down with one more strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
In the seventh frame, the Roadrunners took their first and only lead of the game. With runners on the corners and one out, Olivo hit a single to bring home both runners and knot the score at 8-8. A single by Taussig and a double by Parmer scored a run each to give UTSA the 10-8 advantage.
The Texans had a response in the bottom of the frame as a two-run homerun tied the game up again at 10-10. The eighth inning went scoreless as both teams fought to maintain momentum.
UTSA struggled to find a hole in the top of the ninth as the Roadrunners were sat down in order. Tarleton used its home field advantage to get a rally going as the first three runners got aboard on two singles and a walk. With no outs left, the Texans' No. 5 hitter Brandon Howell hit a grand slam as UTSA fell to Tarleton, 14-10.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners head to Sugar Land, Texas, for the Sugar Land Classic this Friday through Sunday, Feb. 23-25. UTSA opens the tournament against Stephen F. Austin at 3 p.m. on Friday, before facing Creighton on Saturday at 11 a.m. and concluding the weekend against Lamar at 2 p.m.
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