SAN ANTONIO – Pressure is a privilege.
UTSA head baseball coach Pat Hallmark alluded to the iconic quote from tennis legend Billy Jean King on Saturday when describing his team’s mentality heading into the American Athletic Conference Championship set to begin on Tuesday in Clearwater, Fla.
His Roadrunners enter the league tournament as the No. 1 seed and the AAC regular-season champion. UTSA is 42-11 on the season – a school single-season record for victories – and won all nine conference series that it played during the regular season. The Roadrunners set a school record for best home-win percentage at .926 (25-2).
“We’re not going to get lucky or sneak up on anybody anymore, but we can play good baseball,” Hallmark said. “If you don’t like pressure, you’re in the wrong place. We’re not going to back up. We play the game and we play it at the highest level.”
UTSA enters Monday with a No. 22 RPI nationally, having won 13 of its last 14 games. The Roadrunners have road wins already this season against Texas (No. 4 RPI), Dallas Baptist (No. 19 RPI) and Texas A&M (No. 54 RPI). Their resume also includes a sweep of Florida Atlantic (No. 56 RPI) and a series win against Charlotte (No. 58 RPI).
All of the preparation for playing on the biggest stage is something that begins when UTSA first takes the field in the fall. If the games can be easier than the practices, then the pressure that some teams feel in the moment doesn’t exist for the Roadrunners.
“We enjoy the big moment,” Hallmark said. “This is a credit to the players; we coach them pretty hard in the fall. We try to make them uncomfortable; we try to make them deal with adversity from the get-go, and we talk about why. We talk about preparing them and this group of kids has been totally on board with that. They’ve been terrific with it.”
UTSA enters the AAC Tournament as one of the hottest offensive teams in the nation. The Roadrunners rank in the top-10 nationally in a number of statistical categories, including sacrifice flies (2nd, 37), batting average (6th, .322), on-base percentage (7th, .436), scoring (9th, 9.1/gm.), fewest walks allowed per nine innings (9th, 3.27) and runs (10th, 483).
The depth of the UTSA lineup allows Hallmark to strategically adjust it based on opponent and opposing pitcher. It is filled with an array of talents that have combined to spell success for the Roadrunners in 2025.
A combination of returning players and veterans comprise an offensive attack that features players who rank among the nation’s best in a number of different categories.
Mason Lytle, the reigning AAC Newcomer of the Year, led the American Athletic Conference and ranks in the top-25 nationally in sacrifice flies (8), hits (86), hits per game (1.62), doubles (20) and runs scored (67). He ranked as the toughest player in The American to strike out this season and is currently the 21st-toughest player in the nation to punch out. Freshman Jordan Ballin, who hails from nearby Boerne, is third in the country at getting on base, doing so 55.6 percent of the time. He recently set the school record for walks by a freshman with 38.
“Baseball people talk about the tools of the game,” Hallmark said. “I like our club because, for the most part, we’re good at baseball. We are not one-dimensional in any way, which is very important, especially this time of year. We can beat people a lot of different ways. But at the end of the day, we play baseball pretty well. It’s not just a tool that we’re good at. It’s critical; it’s absolutely important.”
UTSA’s starting trio of pitchers – Conor Myles, Braylon Owens and Zach Royse – have established themselves as a formidable presence on the mound. Reliever Robert Orloski has been nearly unstoppable in the closer role, boasting a 7-0 record with seven saves on the year. While the pitching staff was a question mark entering the 2025 season, the answer has been affirmative.
“The hitters have been feeling it for quite a while now,” Hallmark said. “But I think some of these pitchers are starting to believe in themselves a little more and it’s very rewarding.”
The Roadrunners jubilantly celebrated their regular-season championship in front of their fans on Saturday at Roadrunner Field, where earlier this season they set a single-game school record for attendance. But they expect there is much more baseball to be played this season, starting on Tuesday.
UTSA faces eighth-seeded Rice to open the AAC Tournament in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+.
“We’re not really trying to send a message; we’re trying to play good baseball,” Hallmark said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re trying to play well on the next pitch.”