SUGAR LAND, Texas – The UTSA baseball team suffered a 5-3 setback to the Lamar Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at Constellation Field.
QUICK HITS
· A pair of Roadrunners picked up two hits each, including center fielder Aiden Baumann and catcher Broc Parmer.
· Sophomore Baumann hit his first career home run.
· Freshman Diego Diaz made his first career start, playing at second base.
· Relievers Fischer Kingsbery and Braylon Owens kept the Cardinals scoreless in the final three frames.
· UTSA drops to a 3-5 record, while Lamar improves to a 5-2 record.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Roadrunners struggled early as Cardinals starter Hunter Hesseltine used just eight pitches for a 1-2-3 first inning. UTSA starter Braden Davis forced the two outs of the bottom of the frame quickly, before the next six batters reached base and four runs scored to give Lamar the 4-0 lead.
UTSA got on the board in the next frame. After a groundout to start the inning, Lorenzo Morresi, Parmer and Baumann hit three consecutive singles to load the bases. Next, Mark Henning hit a single to drive in Morresi and cut UTSA’s deficit to 4-1.
The Cardinals added another run in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to 5-1. Those five runs in the first two frames would prove to be enough.
In the third frame, Daniel Garza collected a pair of strikeouts to force a scoreless inning. In the fourth frame, UTSA got a rally started. Designated hitter Andrew Stucky earned a full-count walk to start the inning.
A few outs later, Baumann came up to the plate. He watched the first ball land outside the strike zone, before the second one fell in for a strike. The third pitch was a ball and Baumann swung at the fourth to make the count 2-2. On the fifth pitch, Baumann launched it to left field for a two-run home run, decreasing Lamar’s lead to 5-3 in the process.
Garza forced another three up, three down inning with a groundout and two flyouts in the bottom of the fourth. The fifth was another scoreless frame as 18 combined pitches were used to get the six outs.
The Roadrunners continued to fight back in the sixth, getting runners on first and third, but the rally was short lived. Coming in to relieve Garza, Kingsbery recorded a clean frame in the bottom of the sixth, while collecting a strikeout.
The UTSA batters went down in order in the top of the seventh. On the other half of the frame, Kingsbery recorded the first out before Owens took over the mound. Despite allowing a single and the runner to advance all the way to third, a couple of strikeouts got him out of the jam.
In the eighth, the Roadrunners went down in order again. Owens allowed a couple more baserunners but battled through it to put up another scoreless frame.
The Roadrunners got a runner in scoring position in the top of the ninth, but UTSA was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Lamar by 5-3.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners head to Houston to face the Cougars on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at Schroeder Park.
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