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Baseball

UTSA set for midweek tilt against Big 12’s Houston Cougars

HOUSTON – The UTSA Baseball team travels to Houston to face the Cougars at 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon at Schroeder Park.

 

The game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Garrett Jones and Gene Flores on the call.

 

QUICK HITS

Mason Lytle and Broc Parmer are both on a five-game hitting streak. Lytle has picked up four multi-hit games, while Parmer has picked two multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games.

 

Parmer is coming off a great week in which he hit two home runs, a double, six hits, five RBI and two runs.

 

The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference in triples (3) and triples per game (0.38). Caleb Hill leads the conference with 10 runs and Matt King leads the AAC with two sac flies. Ruger Riojas leads the nation with two wins, while Hector Rodriguez is the toughest batter to strike out in the nation with a 0.0 strikeout rate.

 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS

Houston is in its first season in the Big 12 Conference, being picked 9th in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Cougars are 6-1 to start the season, after suffering their first loss (11-6) against St. John’s this past Sunday.

 

The Cougars have three batters averaging over .400. Justin Murray leads the team with a .500 BA, 13 hits, 10 runs and a couple of home runs. Tre Jones has a .458 average with 11 hits, nine runs, 10 RBI and two home runs.

 

SERIES HISTORY VS HOUSTON

The Cougars hold the 18-11 advantage in the all-time series record, including a 10-8 record on their home field.

 

The Roadrunners won last season’s meeting at home by 12-2 in a seven-inning run-rule game. On the game on Feb. 22, 2023, Matt King led the team with a 3-for-5 performance, including three runs, two RBI and a triple.

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LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ROADRUNNERS

UTSA went 1-3 last week. The Roadrunners fell to Lamar, 5-3, to close out the Sugar Land Classic on Sunday. Sophomore Aiden Baumann hit his first career home run, while leading the team with two hits.

 

The Roadrunners lose their Saturday matchup with Big East opponent Creighton by 4-1. Mason Lytle hit two doubles in the game, leading three Roadrunners with two hits.

 

UTSA started the Sugar Land Classic with a 7-6 win over SFA on Friday. Lytle led the team with a 3-for-5 game, including a run and one RBI. Broc Parmer came in to pinch hit in the seventh as the Roadrunners were down one run. He delivered as he sent a two-run home run to give UTSA a 7-6 lead they would hold onto to win the matchup.

 

The Roadrunners started last week with a 14-10 loss to Tarleton on the road in Stephenville, Texas, on Feb. 20. The Roadrunners battled back from a six-run deficit to tie the game up twice, but a walk-off grand slam by the Texans was the difference maker.

 

THREE’S A LUCKY NUMBER

The Roadrunners were picked to finish third in their first season in the American Athletic Conference.

 

Ahead of UTSA in this year’s AAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, powerhouse East Carolina took the top spot. Charlotte, who made the move to the AAC with UTSA this year and won last year’s C-USA Tournament, earned second place.

 

Following UTSA is Florida Atlantic, South Florida, Memphis, Wichita State, Rice, Tulane and UAB took the fourth-10th spots, respectively.

 

ON DECK

The Roadrunners return home to host Grand Canyon this Friday-Sunday, March 1-3. The series will open on Friday at 6 p.m., before playing at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

 

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