BOCA RATON, Fla. – The UTSA baseball team earned a 3-2 victory against Florida Atlantic in 10 innings in American Athletic Conference action on Friday night at FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.
QUICK HITS
· Alexander Olivo and Matt King led the team with two-hit games as Olivo picked up a run and King recorded an RBI.
· Ruger Riojas (10-3) earned his 10th win of the season, striking out three and keeping the Owls to just three hits in three innings pitched.
· UTSA improved to a 32-21 overall record (17-9 in AAC play) while Florida Atlantic fell to a 25-27 overall record (11-15 in conference action).
· With this series secured, the Roadrunners will conclude their first season in the American Athletic Conference having won seven of their nine conference series.
· With East Carolina sweeping Rice this weekend to secure the first-place spot, the Roadrunners have claimed second place in the conference standings.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Roadrunners scored the first run quickly. A groundout started the game, but Olivo followed that with a single. Then, Caleb Hill sent a double to left center while Olivo came home to give UTSA a 1-0 advantage. In the bottom of the inning, starting pitcher Zach Royse sat the Owls down in order using a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
The score didn’t move for the next three innings. The second inning went three up, three down on both sides of the frame. In the third inning, either team left two runners stranded. The fourth frame went 1-2-3 on both sides of the inning, while Daniel Garza picked up a strikeout.
UTSA added a run to its lead in the fifth inning. The Roadrunners loaded the bases using an Owl error, walk and hit by pitch. Then, a hit by pitch to James Taussig brought home Mason Lytle from third.
The sixth and seventh frames saw a few more zeroes on the board. Garza picked up one more strikeout in the seventh.
In the eighth frame, the Owls brought around a pair of runs to knot the score at 2-2. After the ninth inning went scoreless, the game headed to extra innings.
An error by the Owls’ third baseman allowed King to reach first to start the inning. After a pair of outs were made, Isaiah Walker earned a four-pitch walk and pinch hitter Hector Rodriguez earned a full-count walk to load the bases.
Then, Tye Odom came in as a pinch hitter and earned a catcher’s interference call to put him at first and move up the other runners, scoring King from third for the go-ahead run.
Despite the Owls’ Brando Leroux hitting a single to start the bottom of the 10th and advancing all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt and flyout, Riojas continued to work through the obstacle. He forced the final batter down on a swinging strikeout, securing the 3-2 UTSA victory over Florida Atlantic in a 10-inning thriller.
ON DECK
The Roadrunners and the Owls conclude the series on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET at FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.
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