SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team knotted its series with Charlotte at one apiece with a 14-4 seven-inning run-rule victory on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio.
QUICK HITS
· Junior infielder Hector Rodriguez had a career-best game, going 4-for-4 with two runs, three RBI and a double.
· Mason Lytle extended his hitting streak to 17 games, having a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate with two runs, three RBI and home run. This marks his 14th consecutive multi-hit game, starting on March 16 against Northwestern.
· Matt King and Caleb Hill recorded two hits apiece as well.
· Ruger Riojas (6-0) picked up his AAC-leading sixth win of the season, keeping the 49ers scoreless on two hits while striking out four batters in the final four frames.
· UTSA improved to a 18-13 overall record (6-2 in American Athletic Conference play), while Charlotte fell to a 14-17 record (4-4 in league action).
· This seven-inning matchup marks the Roadrunners’ first run-rule victory of the season.
· UTSA saw team game highs in both sacrifice hits (2) and sacrifice flies (3).
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
After both teams scored two in each the top and bottom half of the first, the game was a back-and-forth battle for the next few innings. The 49ers opened scoring with a two-run home run in the top of the first frame, before UTSA responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the frame, including a solo home run by Lytle and a sacrifice fly by Broc Parmer.
Charlotte took a 4-2 lead as it scattered two runs in the second and third via two solo home runs. This would mark the last time the 49ers scored in the game. UTSA tied it up again in the bottom of the third, this time at 4-4. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Rodriguez hit a big double to center field to knot the score.
Riojas entered the game in the fourth inning and kept the 49ers scoreless from there on. He began his outing with a quick 1-2-3 inning with a foulout, flyout and popup using just eight pitches. In the fifth, he allowed one walk and one single, but struck out the side to put another zero on the board. Riojas faced just one more than the minimum in the sixth, forcing Charlotte out using a flyout and double play.
In the fourth through sixth innings, the Roadrunners scored three runs in the bottom of each. Lytle opened the bottom of the fourth with a single through the left side, before he scored the go-ahead run on a double by King in the next at-bat. Next, Hill earned a full count walk and Olivo was hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs. The Roadrunners took advantage of a wild pitch as King scored and Hill moved to third. A couple batters later, a fielder’s choice by Parmer drove in the final run of the frame.
Rodriguez earned a five-pitch walk to start the fifth, before advancing to second on a wild pitch and third on a single by James Taussig. A Lytle sacrifice fly then brought home Rodriguez from third. A hit by pitch to King put two runners on again. Hill then hit a single up the middle to bring home Taussig. A sacrifice groundout by Alexander Olivo scored King for UTSA’s 10th run of the game.
The Roadrunners added a trio of insurance runs in the sixth inning. Three consecutive singles by Parmer, Zane Spinn and Rodriguez loaded the bases to start things off. With Taussig at the plate, the first pitch went wild to advance all of the runners as Parmer scored from third. Taussig earned a full count walk to load the bases again before Charlotte called to the bullpen. On the first pitch the 49ers’ new pitcher threw, Lytle sent it through the left side for a RBI single. Then, a sacrifice fly by King drove in Rodriguez.
Riojas used only eight pitches in a three up, three down top of the seventh, forcing a pair of flyouts and a strikeout.
Andrew Stucky led off the bottom of the frame with a first pitch single. After an out, Spinn earned a five-pitch walk to place two runners on the basepaths. Rodriguez stepped up to the plate and battled through a 3-2 count, staying patient for the right pitch. He saw exactly that on the sixth pitch of his at-bat, sending it to center field as Stucky came in to score and extend the Roadrunners’ lead to 14-4. With the run rule in effect for all conference games, UTSA secured the 14-4 victory over Charlotte in the seventh and evened the series at 1-1.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners and 49ers play the rubber match on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Roadrunner Field. Sunday’s matchup will also be Family Day at the ballpark as fans will receive five player trading cards (Tye Odom, Robert Orloski, Whitt Joyce, Colin Carrejo and Alexander Olivo) and can get them signed in a postgame autograph session.
-UTSA-