CLEARWATER, Fla. — UTSA set to play the eighth-seeded Rice Owls in the American Athletic Conference Championship presented by Regions at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
Since the Roadrunners were named the AAC Regular Season Champions, thanks to their 23-4 conference record, they enter the tournament as the one seed. The three teams on UTSA’s side of the bracket are No. 4 Florida Atlantic, No. 5 Tulane and No. 8 Rice.
This will be the fourth consecutive game against Rice. The Roadrunners closed out the 2025 regular season against the Owls, winning all three games at Roadrunner Field. With a win, the Roadrunners will have a five-game winning streak against the Owls dating back to April 28, 2024, which would be the longest win streak against the Owls in program history.
Braylon Owens will be the starter on the mound for the Roadrunners. This will be his 14th start of the year. He holds a 7-2 record with 77 innings pitched and a 4.68 ERA. Owens has a team-high 77 strikeouts.
Entering the game, Norris McClure is on a 19-game hitting streak, which is the longest hitting streak for any Roadrunner this year. Andrew Stucky has reached base safely in 30 consecutive games, which is the longest streak for any UTSA student-athlete this season.
With a win, UTSA will face off against the winner between FAU and Tulane at noon on Thursday, May 22, at BayCare Ballpark. A loss to Rice would mean the Roadrunners will play the loser of Tulane and Florida Atlantic at noon on Wednesday, May 21, at BayCare Ballpark.
UTSA enters the tournament, garnering a plethora of American Athletic Conference awards as Mason Lytle was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Pat Hallmark was named Coach of the Year. Drew Detlefsen was named Co-Newcomer Position Player of the Year and All-Conference Second Team.
Robert Orloski, Andrew Stucky, Ty Hodge, Mason Lytle and James Taussig were all named All-Conference First Team. Jordan Ballin was named to the All-Conference Second Team along with Detlefsen. Ballin, Nathan Hodge, and Caden Miller were the three UTSA freshmen named to the All-Freshman Team.
The tournament will be played in a double-elimination format through the semifinal round. The championship final is a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday, May 25, which will determine The American’s automatic entrant to the NCAA Championship.
Live coverage of the first five days of the championship will be available on ESPN+, while the final will take place on May 25 at noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPNEWS and ESPN+. The most up-to-date information on The American Championship, including schedules, results and links to live scoring and the ESPN+ telecasts, can be found on Championship Central here.
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