SAN MARCOS, Texas – The UTSA baseball team heads north to take on Texas State in a Battle of I-35 matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
QUICK HITS
UTSA is coming off a series win over Big Ten opponent Northwestern, in which the Roadrunners took two of three against the Wildcats. This is the Roadrunners’ second series win of the season.
Broc Parmer is on a 16-game reached base streak, while Caleb Hill is on an 11-game reached base streak. Both Caleb Hill and Mason Lytle lead the team with nine multi-hit games. Hill had a program-record five-hit game on March 9.
The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference in four different categories, including batting average (.302), hits (215), triples (5), and least walks allowed per nine innings (2.91), also ranking third in the nation in the category. UTSA’s strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.98) is second in the conference and 17th in the nation.
Hill leads the conference in runs (26), while Matt King has hit a conference-leading five sacrifice flies (also second in the nation). Mason Lytle is the toughest batter to strike out in the league with a 9.6 strikeout rate. Zach Royse has the most starts (5) in the conference, while Ruger Riojas leads the American with four victories (sixth in the nation).
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Texas State holds a 11-9 overall record, after a series win over Appalachian State last weekend on March 15-17. The Bobcats are currently tied for third in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The team was selected to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll.
Sophomore second baseman Chase Mora was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Freshman infielder Ryne Farber is leading the team with a .370 batting average, 21 runs and 27 hits. Farber is the 16th-toughest batter to strike out in the nation (18.2). The Bobcats are starting Calen Graham, who has posted a 5.40 ERA in five appearances.
SERIES HISTORY VS TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats hold a 62-39 advantage over the Roadrunners in the all-time series record, dating back to 1992. The squads last played split two games last season, as UTSA won the game in San Marcos, Texas, on March 7 by 11-2 and Texas State won the game in San Antonio on April 18 by 5-3.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ROADRUNNERS
UTSA is coming off a series win over Northwestern, in which the Roadrunners took two of three against the Wildcats. This is the Roadrunners’ second series win of the season.
The Roadrunners won the first game by 12-2 to start a Saturday doubleheader, led by a 4-for-5 performance by Mason Lytle and a five-inning outing by Robert Orloski. The Wildcats took game two by 10-4 to force a rubber match in the series finale.
UTSA shut out Northwestern in the series finale by 2-0 on Sunday. Lytle, Andrew Stucky and Hector Rodriguez led the Roadrunners with two hits apiece. Uli Quiroga turned in a quality start of scoreless, six-inning ball with three strikeouts, earning his first win of the season. Daniel Garza earned his first save of the season as he pitched the final three innings of the shutout.
The Roadrunners suffered a 4-3 loss to Abilene Christian on March 12, despite a late rally by the Roadrunners’ offense. Braylon Owens kept the Wildcats scoreless through the final 4.2 innings, striking out six batters in the outing.
AAC HONORS FOR ULI
The Baytown, Texas, native made his second start of the season in a 2-0 shutout over Northwestern on March 17 that secured UTSA’s second series win of the season. He recorded a quality start in which he pitched the first six innings and earned his first win (1-0), while keeping the Wildcats scoreless on just two hits.
The senior also struck out three batters in his outing. He faced 21 batters, only three more than the minimum in a six-inning appearance. He kept the Wildcats to just a .100 batting average, while not allowing an extra-base hit.
In four appearances, he has earned two starts and totes a 3.38 ERA. Quiroga has struck out nine batters in 13.1 innings pitched, while keeping opposing batters to an impressive .180 batting average. In his career, he has collected 10 wins and 103 strikeouts in 112.1 innings of action so far.
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 open up American Athletic Conference play this weekend as they host No. 10 East Carolina at Roadrunner Field on March 22-24.
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