NEW ORLEANS – The UTSA baseball team earned its first road conference series sweep since the 2015 season with a 12-6 win against Tulane on Saturday afternoon at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans.
QUICK HITS
· Two Roadrunners turned in 3-for-5 performances, including Mason Lytle and Hector Rodriguez. Lytle also picked up two runs, four RBI and a home run – his fifth jack of the season. Rodriguez recorded one run, three RBI and a double.
· Starting pitcher Ulises Quiroga (2-0) turned in a quality start as he pitched seven innings of two-run ball while striking out five to earn his second win of the season.
· UTSA improved to a 16-12 overall record (5-1 in conference action), while Tulane now sits at a 15-13 record (2-4 in AAC play).
· This marks UTSA’s first road conference series sweep since the 2015 season, when the Roadrunners swept Marshall on March 13-15.
· The Roadrunners are tied for first with Wichita State in the conference standings with a 5-1 mark.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Green Wave opened up scoring first as one run came across the plate in the bottom of the first to give them an early advantage. The second inning went scoreless despite a few baserunners.
The Roadrunners got on the board and took a 2-1 lead in the third frame. With one out on the board, Caleb Hill hit a single to right center before putting himself in scoring position with a stolen base. Next, Lytle hit another single and advanced to second on the throw as Hill came home to knot the score.
A couple walks loaded the bases with just one out on the board before Tulane called to its bullpen. After the new pitcher came in, Taussig hit a groundout to second which scored Lytle and gave UTSA a 2-1 lead.
An RBI double by the Green Wave tied the score again, now at 2-2. The Roadrunners put up a big four-run inning in the fourth to regain the lead. Parmer reached on catcher’s interference to open the frame. After a quick out, Rodriguez hit a single to right center to put two runners on. Hill then followed that with a single of his own to bring home Parmer and move Rodriguez to third. Lytle sent a big two-run jack out past left field to give UTSA the 6-2 advantage and cap off scoring for the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Quiroga recorded a quick 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout and a pair of flyouts. The fifth and sixth innings went scoreless as Quiroga picked up a couple more three up, three down frames.
UTSA put together another big four-run frame in the seventh. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Tye Odom hit a two-RBI single which drove home Matt King and Diego Diaz. A couple batters later, Rodriguez hit a bases-clearing double to bring home two more runs and extend UTSA’s lead to 10-2. Quiroga faced the minimum in the bottom of the frame as a double play and flyout eliminated the leadoff walk he allowed.
The Green Wav scattered four runs across the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings but it would not be enough as UTSA held on for the 12-6 win over Tulane in the series finale.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners return to the Alamo City to face UIW across town at the Cardinals’ home Sullivan Field in a crosstown rivalry midweek matchup on April 2 at 2 p.m.
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