SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team shut out Grand Canyon in a commanding 12-0 victory on Friday night at Roadrunner Field, led by phenomenal performances by Ty Tilson and Robert Orloski.
QUICK HITS
· Third baseman Ty Tilson had a perfect 4-for-4 game with three runs, an RBI and a double.
· Two more Roadrunners had multi-hit games, including two-hit games by Caleb Hill and Zane Spinn.
· Freshman Diego Diaz notched his first career hit, a bases-clearing double in the first inning.
· Spinn’s two hits were also his first as a Roadrunner.
· Starting pitcher Fischer Kingsbery pitched two innings of one-hit ball, also picking up three strikeouts.
· Freshman Robert Orloski (1-1) acquired his first career win, striking out seven batters in 6.0 IP.
· The team recorded a season-high 12 runs, five walks and 13 strikeouts.
· UTSA improves to a 5-5 record, while GCU drops to a 5-4 record.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
Kingsbery opened the game with a scoreless first frame, striking out two batters to end the inning. The Roadrunners had an explosive five-run bottom of the first to break open early.
Hill opened up the frame with a single to right center, before Matt King reached on an error. Alexander Olivo then singled on the first pitch he saw to bring home Hill for the first run of the game. A couple batters later, James Taussig hit a sacrifice fly to drive in King. Tilson followed that with a single to load the bases with two outs. Next up, Diaz recorded the first hit of his career – a bases-clearing double to give UTSA a 5-0 lead.
The second inning went scoreless as Kingsbery used 10 pitches to force three Lopes down in order with a strikeout, foulout and flyout. In the third frame, Orloski took over on the mound and forced 1-2-3 inning with two flyouts and a strikeout. The Roadrunners added another run to their advantage in the bottom of the inning as Diaz grounded out and Parmer scored on the play.
The fourth and fifth innings saw some more zeroes on the board. Orloski continued to dominate on the mound, scattering four strikeouts throughout that period.
UTSA tacked on three additional runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-0 advantage. Tilson won a 3-2 pitch count as he singled to left center to start it off. Diaz then earned a walk on a 3-2 count to put runners on first and second. Spinn singled through the right side to drive in Tilson, before Diaz was brought home by a Hill double. To cap off scoring in the inning, King hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Spinn.
Orloski put up another scoreless inning in the seventh, forcing a couple flyouts and a groundout. In the bottom of the frame, the Roadrunners added to their lead once again. With two on base and an out on the scoreboard, Tilson hit a double through the right side on the first pitch to bring home Lytle. A couple batters later, Spinn reached base on an error and two runners came home to make the score 12-0.
Orloski closed his outing with a three up, three down eighth frame, ending it with a big strikeout on a 3-2 count. Cooper Hrbacek came in to close out the game in the ninth inning, striking out the side. UTSA completed the 12-0 shutout over GCU to start the series.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners and Lopes play game two of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.
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