SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team won game one against Northwestern by 12-2, before dropping the second game by 10-4 in Saturday’s doubleheader at Roadrunner Field.
QUICK HITS
· Mason Lytle collected six hits across the two games, including a 4-for-5 performance in the first game and one home run in each game (two total).
· Caleb Hill also went 4-for-5 with a home run in the first game.
· Freshman Robert Orloski (2-2) earned the win in the first game, keeping the Wildcats to just one run on four hits in five innings of work.
· UTSA’s record now sits at 9-10, while Northwestern's record now sits at 7-8.
GAME ONE: UTSA 12, Northwestern 2
The Roadrunners took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Alexander Olivo advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and subsequently scored on an error in the same play. Starter Fischer Kingsbery was successful in keeping the Wildcats off the board in the first two frames, also picking up a couple of strikeouts.
In the third frame, Orloski took over on the mound and immediately forced a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout and a pair of flyouts. In the fourth frame, the Roadrunners broke open their lead to 5-0.
With runners on the corners and two outs, Ty Tilson hit a double to bring home Lytle. Diego Diaz also came around to score on the same play due to an error. Next, Andrew Stucky slammed a home run to left field – his first home run as a Roadrunner – to bring himself home along with Tilson, extending UTSA’s lead to 5-0.
UTSA added another run to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as a bases-loaded walk allowed Olivo to score. After a scoreless sixth frame, a couple more runs were tacked onto the Roadrunners’ advantage in the seventh.
Lytle hit a solo home run to open up scoring in the frame – his third jack of the season. Tye Odom was then hit by pitch in the next at-bat and put his baserunning skills to the test. With Diaz at the plate, Odom stole second before a single by Diaz advanced Odom to third. Then, as Tilson was up to bat, Diaz and Odom set up a double steal situation as Diaz stole second and Odom stole home.
The Wildcats got on the scoreboard with a couple of runs in the top of the eighth to cut UTSA’s lead to 8-2. The Roadrunners responded in the bottom of the frame as they added on four insurance runs. Hill started things off with a solo home run – the Roadrunners’ third home run of the game. Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Lytle, who then delivered a two-RBI single. A couple of batters later, a fielder’s choice allowed Whitt Joyce to score and push UTSA’s lead to 12-2.
Cooper Hrbacek took over on the mound to close out the game in the ninth inning. He recorded the first two outs quickly with a pair of flyouts using just two pitches. The final batter was a battle through a 2-2 count but he got the Wildcat swinging on the last pitch to seal the deal in UTSA’s 12-2 series-opening win over Northwestern.
GAME TWO: Northwestern 10, UTSA 4
Starting pitcher Zach Royse forced the Wildcats into a three up, three down first frame with a pair of flyouts and a groundout.
In the bottom of the inning, the Roadrunners took an early 2-0 lead. Hill opened up the inning with a double to right field on the first pitch he saw. After a flyout advanced him to third, both Lytle and Broc Parmer won 3-2 counts with a pair of walks to load the bases.
Next, Matt King hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Hill for the first run of the game. Shortly after that, the Roadrunners facilitated a double steal play as Parmer forced the Wildcats to throw to first, at which he safely remained, and Lytle stole home to cap off scoring in the inning and give UTSA a 2-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, Northwestern exploded in a six-run third frame. The Wildcats used five hits and took advantage of two UTSA errors to take a 6-2 lead. In the bottom of the frame, the Roadrunners scored two more runs to cut Northwestern’s lead to 6-4.
Alexander Olivo hit a single on the first pitch he saw to start the frame. Following that, Lytle hit a ball off the batter’s eye for an inside-the-park home run to score both him and Olivo.
The Wildcats added on another run in the fourth to extend their lead to 7-4. In the bottom of the fourth, Northwestern brought in right-handed pitcher Luke Benneche and he kept the Roadrunners to just one base runner from the fifth through eighth innings. Three more runs were added to the board for the Wildcats in the sixth and seventh frames, giving Northwestern a 10-4 advantage.
The Roadrunners loaded the bases with three singles in the bottom of the ninth to attempt a rally, but UTSA was unable to come back and fell to Northwestern by 10-4 in game two of the doubleheader.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners and Wildcats play the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.
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