HOUSTON – UTSA Baseball hits the road for three games at Rice starting on Thursday. The Roadrunners (20-9, 4-3) look to win their third straight American series to open 2026 and their 14th consecutive league set overall. Meanwhile, the Owls (18-12, 3-3) hope to build on a three-game winning streak in an all-Texas conference matchup from the nation’s fourth-largest city.
WHAT TO KNOW
Who: [RV] UTSA (20-9, 4-2 AMER) at Rice (18-12, 3-3 AMER)
When: Thursday, April 2 (6:30 p.m.) | Friday, April 3 (6:30 p.m.) | Saturday, April 4 (1 p.m.)
Where: Reckling Park – Houston, Texas
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Stream: ESPN+
Broadcast Crew: Randy McIlvoy & Kyle Rogers
LAST TIME OUT
After sealing a series victory over East Carolina in walk-off, extra-inning fashion on Sunday, UTSA visited Incarnate Word on Tuesday. Andrew Stucky and Lane Haworth both went deep as the visitors’ offense returned to form with an 11-hit outing. Ultimately, the Cardinals prevailed in the intracity matchup by a final score of 13-11, belting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning. UTSA allowed 15 hits in the loss, dropping their fourth midweek road bout in six tries.
HOUSTON: A SECOND HOME
In March, the ‘Runners made two trips to the nation’s fourth-largest city. UTSA wrapped up its three-day stay at the BRUCE BOLT College Classic with a win over Baylor before visiting Houston Christian on St. Patrick’s Day.
Nine Roadrunners hail from the greater Houston area, including Katy, Spring and Cypress, among other cities. Houstonians make up more than one fifth, or 22.5 percent, of the UTSA roster.
THE BATS ARE HOT
UTSA ranks inside the nation’s top 30 with 312 hits (19th), a .315 batting average (26th), a .431 on-base percentage (19th), 265 total runs scored (14th), 22 sacrifice flies (fourth) and 9.1 runs per game (19th).
In 15 of 29 games this season, UTSA has scored at least 10 runs. The group is averaging 1.1 scores per frame, plating 265 runners in 246.1 innings of work. The Roadrunners have hit multiple home runs in nearly half of their outings, doing so 12 times this spring.
HOMECOMING WEEK
Head Coach Pat Hallmark is visiting both of his old stomping grounds this week. The Rice graduate (2002) and former Incarnate Word coach (2018-19) returns to Sullivan Field and Reckling Park looking to topple the programs he once used to lead.
ABOUT THE OWLS
Rice is under the direction of second-year Head Coach David Pierce, who holds a 31-25 record in his time with the program. The Owls are riding a three-game winning streak to bolster their 18-12 record, most recently taking down UTRGV by a 6-4 count on Tuesday. The Owls toppled Florida Atlantic over the weekend, taking two of three in Houston.
Last year, UTSA swept Rice in the regular-season finale, outscoring the Owls by a combined score of 33-11. In the first round of the American Championship, the two sides clashed once again. The Roadrunners prevailed 4-2 over the league’s No. 8 seed, completing a four-game head-to-head sweep in six days.
UP NEXT
After their series at Rice, the ‘Runners will travel to Tarleton State on Tuesday, April 7, at 4 p.m. UTSA looks to improve on its 2-4 mark in midweek road games while the hosts hope to build on their 10-4 record in Stephenville. All the action between the Roadrunners and Texans will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via utsa.statbroadcast.com.
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