SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team will host South Florida in a three-game series in American Athletic Conference play this weekend at Roadrunner Field for its last home series of the season. The series opens on Friday at 6 p.m., before game two on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. and the series concludes at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Roadrunners will recognize six seniors (Daniel Garza, Ulises Quiroga, Ryan Ward, Alexander Olivo, Caleb Hill and Fischer Kingsbery) for their Senior Day ceremony.
The team will also host its annual on-field Graduation, recognizing six student-athletes who are acquiring their degrees, including Garza, Hill, Kingsbery, Olivo, Quiroga and Mason Lytle.
All three games will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Mike Capps and Karl Schoening on the call.
QUICK HITS
UTSA has won five of its seven 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 a home series win over UAB.
The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference with 29 sacrifice flies. UTSA is also second in the conference with a .306 batting average, 502 hits (24th in the nation), 92 hits by pitch (21st in the nation), .392 on-base percentage, 7.1 scoring average, 2.42 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 3.61 walks allowed per nine innings.
Ruger Riojas has eight victories, which is second in the conference and 11th-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 (9.9). Lytle takes the top league spot in five categories, including doubles (17), doubles per game (0.37), hits (78), hits per game (1.70) and total bases (131). Lytle’s hits and hits per game numbers are ranked sixth and seventh-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 the most sacrifice flies.
SCOUTING THE BULLS
South Florida holds a 23-25 overall record, following a midweek 4-1 loss to Florida on Tuesday. In conference action, the Bulls have lost their last two conference series, against Florida Atlantic and then-No. 5 East Carolina. They are currently tied for seventh in the American Athletic Conference standings. South Florida was selected to finish fifth out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches’ poll.
The Bulls lead the conference with 83 stolen bases (1.73 per game). Senior Ben Rozenblum leads the AAC with 19 stolen bases (0.40 per game). Five Bulls were named to the preseason all-conference team, including Rozenblum, outfielder Drew Brutcher, shortstop Eric Snow, second baseman Bobby Boser and pitcher Jack Cebert.
This weekend’s series will mark the first time the Bulls and Roadrunners face each other.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
In their first season in the American Athletic Conference, the Roadrunners hold a 13-8 record in conference play and are second in the standings behind No. 6 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 a home series win over UAB.
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 the 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 didn’t play a midweek game this week due to finals. Last weekend, UTSA dropped a home series to Wichita State on May 3-4.
The Roadrunners opened the series on May 3 with a 6-5 victory over the Shockers, led by Caleb Hill’s two-hit game. Ruger Riojas (8-2) picked up his eighth win, pitching 1.2 innings of relief. Fischer Kingsbery closed out the game, recording his sixth save of the season – his third consecutive save in three appearances. He kept the Shockers scoreless in the final inning, recording two outs.
UTSA and Wichita State then concluded the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, in which the Shockers took both games (11-2 and 8-4) to hand the Roadrunners their second consecutive series loss. Matt King led the team, picking up three wins across the two games. Braylon Owens put together a quality start in the finale, keeping the Shockers to just one run on three hits in 6.1 innings pitched. He struck out five batters in the outing.
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 will host their last home game of the season on May 14, hosting a crosstown rivalry matchup against UIW at 6 p.m. at Roadrunner Field. UTSA will then head to Boca Raton, Fla., to conclude the regular season with a three-game conference series against Florida Atlantic on May 16-18.
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