SAN ANTONIO – A grand slam by junior Mason Lytle highlighted UTSA’s 11-9 victory over Texas State in a Battle of I-35 rematch on Tuesday night at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio.
QUICK HITS
· Matt King led the team with a 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and a home run.
· Mason Lytle and Mark Henning picked up two hits each.
· Braylon Owens (4-1) earned his fourth win, striking out two in 2.2 innings pitched.
· Fischer Kingsbery closed out the game, recording his fifth save of the season – his second straight save after he earned a save in the series finale at Rice this past Sunday. He kept the Bobcats scoreless in the final 1.1 innings.
· UTSA improved to a 25-18 overall record while Texas State fell to a 22-23 overall record.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Bobcats struck first with a four-run top of the first inning. UTSA got one runner on the basepaths in the bottom of the inning, but a pickoff ended the inning with no runs scored.
Texas State added a run to its lead in the top of the second, before the Roadrunners responded in the bottom of the frame. King opened the frame with a solo home run to center field to give UTSA its first run of the game. After this, a couple of singles by Diego Diaz and Henning put runners on the corners.
Then, Whitt Joyce delivered a double to left center and Broc Parmer hit a sacrifice fly to cut UTSA’s deficit to 5-3.
Owens kept the Bobcats off the board in the top of the third, ending the inning with a strikeout. In the bottom of the frame, two consecutive doubles by James Taussig and King brought in a run to make it a one-run game.
Texas State was kept scoreless again in the fourth frame. To start the bottom of the frame, the Roadrunners loaded the bases with a single and two hits by pitch. After a pitching change and one out was recorded, Lytle launched a grand slam to left field to give UTSA an 8-5 advantage.
The Bobcats added a run in the top of the fifth to cut the score to 8-6, still in favor of the Roadrunners. UTSA put together three runs in the bottom of the frame. Despite two outs on the board quickly to start the inning, the Roadrunners loaded the bases with an error, single and a walk.
Isaiah Walker stepped up the plate and watched the first pitch fall outside the strike zone, before fouling off the next pitch. The count went to 2-2 as the third pitch was another ball and the fourth pitch was a looking strike. Then, Walker doubled to right field to clear the bases and extend UTSA’s lead to 11-6.
Texas State scattered three runs across the seventh and eighth innings to squeeze the score to 11-9. Kingsbery came in to pitch in the eighth and recorded the final four outs of the game. In the top of the ninth, he sat down the Bobcats in order with a flyout, popout and strikeout to secure the 11-9 UTSA win over Texas State on Tuesday night.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners will open up a three-game American Athletic Conference series at Roadrunner Field against Wichita State on Friday at 6 p.m. The second game is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, before the series finale is on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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