HOUSTON – The UTSA baseball team heads to Houston to face the Rice Owls in a three-game series in American Athletic Conference play this weekend at Reckling Park. The series opens on Friday at 6:30 p.m., before game two on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. and the series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
All three games will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
QUICK HITS
UTSA has won all five of its conference series thus far, picking up a big series win against conference favorite and then-No. 10 ECU, as well as a road series sweep over 2023 AAC Tournament champion Tulane, home series win against 2023 C-USA Tournament champion Charlotte, road series win over Memphis and most recently, a home series win over UAB.
The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference in three different categories, including batting average (.315), hits (445) – eighth in the nation in this category, and walks allowed per nine innings (3.53). UTSA’s batters have been hit by pitch 81 times, which ranks second in the conference and 19th in the nation.
In AAC games only, the Roadrunners lead the conference in batting average, runs, hits, RBI and on-base percentage. Mason Lytle leads the conference in slugging percentage, runs and hits, while King has the most sacrifice flies. Ulises Quiroga is tied for the most wins (4).
Ruger Riojas has a 2.49 ERA, which is third in the conference and 29th in the nation, and seven victories, which is second in the conference and sixth-most in the nation. Matt King leads the nation with 10 sacrifice flies, while Mason Lytle is the toughest batter to strike out in the AAC (10.5).
Lytle takes the top league spot in three categories, including hits (68) and hits per game (1.74) – which he ranks fourth and sixth in the nation, respectively – as well as total bases (110).
ROCKIN’ WITH RUGER
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Ruger Riojas was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watchlist, announced on April 24. He was one of 59 of the nation’s top relievers to be named to the watchlist, including four from the American Athletic Conference.
This season, Riojas ranks sixth in the nation with seven victories and 28th in the nation with six saves. His ERA of 2.49 is good for 29th in the nation. In just two collegiate seasons, he has picked up 12 wins and 111 strikeouts.
Riojas was named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 25. This is the first weekly conference honor for Riojas. He was a key component of the Roadrunners earning an upset series victory over No. 10 East Carolina to open up conference play. Riojas closed out the series opener and series finale of the weekend series, earning saves in both of those games. During that week, he earned two saves, picked up a 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts, and kept opposing batters to a .111 batting average.
AAC HONORS FOR THE ‘RUNNERS
Senior first baseman/designated hitter Alexander Olivo was named to the AAC weekly honor roll this Monday. He helped lead the Roadrunners to a 3-1 record last week, including a midweek win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a series victory over UAB. Through the four starts, he held a team-leading .462 batting average, along with six hits, four runs, four RBI and two doubles.
Junior utility player James Taussig was named to the AAC weekly honor roll on April 15 after leading the team with a .500 batting average, along with six hits, four runs, four RBI and two home runs. In the series-clinching finale against Memphis on April 14, Taussig paced the team with a 3-for-4 performance with one run and three RBI.
Senior right-handed pitcher Uli Quiroga and junior infielder Hector Rodriguez were both named to the conference weekly honor roll on April 8. This was Quiroga’s second time on the honor roll as he turned in a series-clinching quality start against Charlotte on April 7, only allowing one run and striking out seven in a six-inning start. Rodriguez had a breakout week in which he picked up eight hits, five runs, and five RBI for a .615 batting average. He also had a career-best 4-for-4 day in the April 6 matchup against Charlotte.
Junior outfielder Mason Lytle was named to the weekly honor roll on March 25, after he picked up nine hits, eight runs and a .450 batting average across four starts at center field during the previous week against Texas State and No. 10 East Carolina.
Quiroga’s first time on the weekly honor roll was March 18. He 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.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Rice holds a 15-25 overall record, following a series sweep over South Florida on the road last weekend on April 19-21. Like the Roadrunners, the Owls did not play midweek game this week. Rice has a 6-9 record in conference play and are currently tied for eighth in the conference standings. The Owls were voted to finish eighth out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches’ poll.
The offense has struck out the most times (381) of any conference team. The defense has most assists in the league (436). The Owls’ pitching staff has kept batters to the second-lowest batting average at .244. Smith, along with J.D. McCracken leads the conference with 10 starts. Smith leads the team with a 3.95 ERA, while McCracken has a team-leading 52 strikeouts. Offensively, Kyte McDonald (.300 BA and 21 runs) and Treyton Rank (46 hits, 13 doubles and 31 RBI) lead the Owls. Jack Riedel leads the conference with 12 home runs.
SERIES HISTORY VS RICE
The Roadrunners trail the Owls by 22-28 in the all-time series record, dating back to the 1994 season. The two teams played each other in two separate three-game series last season as UTSA took two of three games from Rice in the away series in Houston, before the Roadrunners swept the Owls in a three-game home series in San Antonio later in the season.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
In their first season in the American Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners hold a 11-4 record in conference play through the first five weekends and are tied for first in the standings with East Carolina.
UTSA has picked up a big series win against conference favorite and then-No. 10 ECU, as well as a road series sweep over 2023 AAC Tournament champion Tulane, home series win against 2023 C-USA Tournament champion Charlotte, road series win over Memphis and most recently, a home series win over UAB.
In AAC games only, the Roadrunners lead the conference in batting average, runs, hits, RBI and on-base percentage. Mason Lytle leads the conference in slugging percentage, runs and hits, while King has the most sacrifice flies. Ulises Quiroga is tied for the most wins (4).
UTSA officially made the move to the AAC on July 1, 2023, joining a strong baseball conference, already consisting of East Carolina, Memphis, Wichita State and Tulane. A handful of former Conference USA opponents also made the transition with UTSA, including Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Rice and UAB.
The Roadrunners have seen success in every conference they’ve joined. UTSA went 283-277 in the Southland Conference with two tournament championships and two regular season championships from 1993-2012. In their lone season in the Western Athletic Conference in 2013, the Roadrunners had a 15-11 conference mark and won the tournament. From 2014-2023 in the Conference USA, UTSA posted a 139-127 record.
LAST WEEK FOR THE ROADRUNNERS
UTSA did not play a midweek game this week. The team won a three-game series over UAB last weekend on April 19-21. The Blazers took game one by 7-3 on Friday, April 19. Three Roadrunners led the team with two hits apiece, including Alexander Olivo, Mark Henning and Diego Diaz.
The Roadrunners evened the series with a 7-5 win on Saturday, April 20. Daniel Garza picked up his third win of the season, closing out the final five innings of the game with four strikeouts.
UTSA secured the series victory with a 12-3 win on Sunday, April 21. James Taussig led the team with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, picking up one run and two RBI. Ulises Quiroga earned his fourth quality start and fifth win of the season, striking out six in six innings pitched.
The Roadrunners have won every conference series so far, including three home series and two away series victories. The team is tied with East Carolina for the first-place spot in the American Athletic Conference standings with an 11-4 record.
UTSA started last week with a 4-2 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, evening the season series at 2-2 after the Islanders took two of three in an earlier series in Corpus Christi on March 8-10. Great pitching carried the team to victory highlighted by a win for Ryan Beaird (3.0 IP, 3H, 0R, 5K) and a save for Ruger Riojas (1.2 IP, 0H, 0R, 2K).
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 return home to host Texas State in a Battle of I-35 matchup on Tuesday, April 30, at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.
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