NEW ORLEANS – The UTSA baseball team clinched its first road American Athletic Conference series win with an 11-7 victory against Tulane on Friday night at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans.
QUICK HITS
· Tye Odom had a phenomenal 4-for-5 showing with one run, three RBI and a triple.
· Mason Lytle and Matt King both picked up three hits, while Caleb Hill and Zane Spinn recorded two hits apiece.
· Daniel Garza (2-1) earned the win as he pitched the last 5.1 innings of the game, punching out seven batters.
· Starting pitcher Zach Royse struck out one in 3.2 innings pitched.
· UTSA improved to a 15-12 overall record (4-1 in conference action), while Tulane now sits at a 15-12 record (2-3 in AAC play).
· The Roadrunners took a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series record against the Green Wave.
· This marks UTSA’s second series win in conference play and third series win overall this season.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
A big first inning for the Roadrunners gave the team an early advantage. After a groundout opened up the inning, four consecutive singles helped bring home the first run of the game. Odom then hit a triple to center field that brought home two more runs, before he scored on an error by the cutoff man at shortstop.
The Green Wave got one run back in the bottom of the frame to make the score 4-1, in favor of UTSA.
A two-run home run by Hill in the second extended UTSA’s lead to 6-1, before Tulane responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own. The Roadrunners continued to extend their lead in the third frame. A single by Tye Odom and a Parmer groundout brought home two to make it 8-3 on the scoreboard.
The Green Wave cut into that lead with one run scored in the bottom of the fourth. In the fifth, two runs came across the plate for both teams. In the top of the frame, Hector Rodriguez went up to bat with two runners in scoring position and one out on the board.
He delivered a clutch two-RBI double which Parmer and Spinn scored on, giving the Roadrunners double digits in runs on the board. Tulane responded with a solo home run and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame to cut UTSA’s lead to 10-6.
A sacrifice fly by Matt King, which scored Lytle, in the sixth would be the last run scored by the Roadrunners. Garza kept the Green Wave scoreless from the sixth inning through the eighth inning, including a seventh inning in which he struck out the side in order – all swinging strikeouts.
Tulane’s bats woke up in the ninth as it scored one run on three hits in an attempt to chip away, but UTSA held on to take the 11-7 victory over the Green Wave and clinch the series victory – the Roadrunners’ second series win in AAC play and third overall this season.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners and Green Wave play the series finale at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Turchin Stadium.
-UTSA-