CLEARWATER, Fla. – The second-seeded UTSA baseball team is set to open up its first American Athletic Conference Championships against No. 7 seed Charlotte on Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart and Sean Salisbury on the call and Savanna Collins acting as the sideline reporter.
QUICK HITS
UTSA earned the No. 2 seed after finishing the conference season with a 17-10 record and winning seven of its nine conference series. Charlotte earned the seventh seed with a 12-15 record in conference action.
The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference with 570 hits (24th in the nation) and 108 hits by pitch (15th in the nation). UTSA is also second in the conference with a .304 batting average, .393 on-base percentage, 31 sacrifice flies (26th in the nation), 2.36 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 3.59 walks allowed per nine innings.
Ruger Riojas has 10 victories, which is second in the conference and sixth-most in the nation. Matt King leads the nation with 11 sacrifice flies, while Mason Lytle is the toughest batter to strike out in the AAC (11.5). King is currently on a 21-game reached-base streak. Lytle takes the top league spot in four categories, including doubles (18), doubles per game (0.34), hits (85) and hits per game (1.60). Lytle’s hits and hits per game numbers are ranked ninth-most in the nation, respectively.
In AAC games only, the Roadrunners lead the conference in hits by pitch and sacrifice flies. Mason Lytle leads the conference in hits and at-bats, while King has a conference-best .377 batting average and most sacrifice flies.
POSTSEASON ‘RUNNERS
The Roadrunners had a program-high eight student-athletes named All-Conference in their first season in the American Athletic Conference.
Mason Lytle was named the AAC Newcomer Position Player of the Year, as well as earning First Team honors. Joining him on the First Team are Matt King, Alexander Olivo and Ulises Quiroga – a program-high four student-athletes on the first team. Two more Roadrunners – Caleb Hill and Ruger Riojas – were named to the Second Team. Both Diego Diaz and Robert Orloski earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. These eight selections have tied the program high, which was also done just last season with eight Conference USA all-conference selections in 2023.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Charlotte concluded the regular season with a 23-32 overall record, after a series loss to Tulane last weekend. The 49ers ended conference play with a 12-15 AAC record, tied for sixth in the standings with Florida Atlantic, after winning three conference series.
Senior left-handed pitcher Cole Reynolds, who holds a 4-6 record and 5.10 ERA, is the starter for Tuesday’s matchup. The 49ers’ pitching staff is second in the conference and 13th in the nation with 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Shane Taylor has a conference-best 48 walks and 0.92 walks per game. Offensively, Noah Furcht leads the team with a .320 batting average, while recording 56 hits, 33 runs and 34 RBI.
SERIES HISTORY VS CHARLOTTE
The Roadrunners hold a 17-16 advantage over the 49ers in the all-time series record, dating back to the 2014 season. Charlotte and UTSA were in the Conference USA together from 2013-2023, playing each other once every season in a three-game league series besides the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
UTSA and Charlotte played a three-game series in San Antonio earlier this season, in which the Roadrunners took two out of three games over the 49ers.
Despite dropping the opener by 10-5 on April 5, the Roadrunners bounced back to take the second two games in run-rule fashion. On April 6, perfect days at the plate by Mason Lytle (3-for-3) and Hector Rodriguez (4-for-4) as well as dominant pitching by Ruger Riojas led UTSA to a 14-4 victory in seven innings.
In the rubber match on April 7, Uli Quiroga’s quality start of one run allowed and seven batters struck out in six innings pitched highlighted the finale. A couple of Roadrunners picked up a team-high two hits, including Matt King (three runs) and Lorenzo Morresi (three runs and five RBI). Morresi and Ty Tilson also hit their first home run as a Roadrunner.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
In their first season in the American Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners hold a 17-10 record in conference play and earned the second seed in the tournament.
Throughout the regular season, UTSA picked up seven series wins against conference favorite and then-No. 10 ECU, 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, a home series win over UAB, home series win over South Florida and most recently, a road series win over Florida Atlantic.
In AAC games only, the Roadrunners lead the conference in hits by pitch and sacrifice flies. Mason Lytle leads the conference in hits and at-bats, while King has a conference-best .377 batting average and most sacrifice flies.
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 ended the regular season with a series win over Florida Atlantic on May 16-18, winning the first two games before dropping the finale. In the series opener on May 16, the Roadrunners run-ruled the Owls by 14-1 in seven innings. Diego Diaz led the team with a 3-for-4 performance, recording one run and three RBI. Alexander Olivo went 2-for-3 with both hits being opposite field home runs. Ulises Quiroga (8-1) earned his eighth win of the season, which also marked his 17th career win, tying Luke Malone (2020-23) for the ninth spot for most career wins in the program record book.
On May 17, UTSA pulled off an extra-inning thriller, defeating FAU by 3-2 in 10 innings to secure the series victory. 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.
The Roadrunners dropped the series finale on May 18 by 6-4. King and James Taussig each led the team with three-hit games. King hit a double and scored two runs, while Taussig recorded an RBI, one run and a stolen base. Caleb Hill went 2-for-4 with a run and hit by pitch.
UTSA opened this week with a big 13-3 run-rule victory over crosstown rival UIW on Tuesday night. Alexander Olivo led the team as he had three hits - two of them doubles – along with three RBI and a run. Ryan Beaird (2-0) earned his second win of the season, allowing just one run and striking out one in 2.2 innings pitched.
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 winner of this matchup will stay in the winners’ bracket and face the winner of No. 3 Tulane/No. 6 Florida Atlantic on Thursday. The loser of the game will fall to losers’ bracket and face the loser of the Tulane/Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.
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