HOUSTON – On Friday, UTSA Baseball opened the 2026 BRUCE BOLT College Classic with a contest against Ohio State of the Big Ten. The Roadrunners fell behind early, but never let the margin get out of hand. Mike DeBattista excelled out of the bullpen, improving to 2-0 on the season with 3.0 solid innings of work while his offense took the lead. Lane Haworth posted a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning to take the lead for good. UTSA eked out a 6-5 win after a late push from the Buckeyes in the ninth frame, improving to 8-1 on the season.
FIRST INNING
Connor Kelley notched his second consecutive Friday start from Head Coach Pat Hallmark, getting the nod as the first pitcher to take the mound in the nine-game tournament. Ohio State drew a walk before a double on the next pitch opened the scoring. After advancing to third, a two-out single drove in the Buckeyes’ second run.
When the ‘Runners came up in the home half, they quickly tallied two outs before Lane Haworth drove a single through the right side of the infield. After the junior made his way to second on a wild pitch, catcher Andrew Stucky sent one deep into the gap in right-center field, scoring Haworth to cut the deficit in half.
THIRD INNING
Following a pair of strikeouts that helped Kelley escape a bases-loaded jam in the second, the junior sat down two more Buckeyes on strikes in the third. Meanwhile, the ‘Runner bats entered a stretch of 11 batters with just one walk and no hits.
FIFTH INNING
After yet another strikeout from Kelley, Ohio State returned to the scoring column on a solo shot off the Crawford Boxes in left field. Christopher Gutierrez stepped in, finishing the inning with another pair of punchouts. A single and a walk pushed Jordan Ballin into scoring position, but the opportunity advanced no further.
SIXTH INNING
Mike DeBattista took to the mound after the two outs from Gutierrez, needing just eight pitches to bring his offense back out. Following a leadoff walk from Haworth, Josh Arquette doubled down the left-field line to place two ‘Runners in scoring position. With two away, Garrett Gruell came up clutch on a game-tying single up the middle.
SEVENTH INNING
Caden Miller looked on over from first base after he was hit by a pitch, waiting with two outs for the result of Haworth’s final at-bat. The right fielder went to the bleachers he had been patrolling all afternoon, launching a two-strike pitch off the seats to take a 5-3 lead and push his side ahead for the first time.
EIGHTH INNING
Another hit batter preluded Christian Hallmark’s successful stolen base that left the sophomore 180 feet from home. On a groundout to first base, Hallmark made his way to third before opting for a risky dive towards home. A close play at the plate resulted in a fielding error from the OSU catcher, pushing UTSA ahead 6-3, needing three outs to wrap up the win.
NINTH INNING
Two straight hits prompted Head Coach Pat Hallmark to turn to Sam Simmons out of the bullpen. Back-to-back groundouts each scored runs, leaving the final batter up with two away and no runners aboard. A four-pitch at-bat culminated in a dribbler to Diego Diaz, who sealed the Roadrunners’ first Power Four win of 2026 with a clean throw to Caden Miller at first base.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- Sam Simmons picked up his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth, escaping by one run without allowing a baserunner.
- Connor Kelley matched his season best with seven strikeouts in the victory, setting a 2026 high by facing 22 batters.
- After doing so in each of the first six games this season, UTSA has failed to score 10 or more runs the past three.
- UTSA has dipped below double digits in hits across each of its past three outings (including seven twice in a row) after notching at least 10 in the first six games of 2026.
- The ‘Runners cut their offensive strikeout total in half from Tuesday, dropping from 14 to seven.
- Connor Kelley wrapped up his Friday with a final line of 4.1 innings pitched, seven strikeouts and three earned runs before being relieved by Christopher Gutierrez.
- Lane Haworth’s two-run blast in the seventh inning was the Wichita State transfer’s first in a UTSA uniform.
- Mike DeBattista improved to 2-0 on the season, now holding a 4.00 ERA across his four appearances, also tallying an earlier save.
- Lane Haworth notched a hit for the fourth straight game, doing so for the eighth time in nine contests this spring.
UP NEXT
UTSA returns to action on Saturday for a top-10 matchup with Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers (6-2) enter at No. 9 in the D1Baseball Top 25 and will face Texas on Friday night. The Roadrunners’ matchup with the 2025 Men’s College World Series participants is scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m. All nine games in Daikin Park this weekend will be streamed live on YouTube, astros.com and SCHN+ with live statistics available via StatBroadcast.
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