Missions opener to include prospects for Padres and Astros

The San Antonio Missions open their season on the road Tuesday against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

The Missions and Hooks will play a six-game series running through Sunday.

The Missions are the Double A farm club of the San Diego Padres. The Hooks are the Double A farm club of the Houston Astros.

Here is a link to a story with the Hooks’ preliminary roster:
cchooks.com

Here is a link to the Missions’ preliminary roster on the team’s website:
samissions.com

Rosters are preliminary, but at least give us some idea of who we have a chance to see this season. The Missions’ list includes two pitchers on the Padres’ 40-man roster:
Jordan Humphreys
Reggie Lawson

The Hooks’ list includes three Astros top prospects:
Pedro León, utility
Hunter Brown, pitcher
Grae Kessinger, infielder

UTSA batters Rice to split series

UTSA baseball Chase Keng by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Chase Keng (4) celebrates after hitting a fifth-inning home run against Rice on Sunday.
UTSA beat Rice 12-4 Sunday to split their four-game weekend series at Roadrunner Field.

Rice won the first two games on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. UTSA won the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader 12-6. The Roadrunners scored 24 runs in 14 innings over the last two games.

UTSA had 18 hits on Sunday with four extra-base hits including a home run by Chase Keng. Griffin Paxton and Jonathan Tapia had four hits each, Ian Bailey had three and Dylan Rock and Keng both had two hits.

UTSA starting pitcher Simon Miller (3-1) went five innings and got the win. The freshman right-hander from Canton, Texas, allowed one run on three hits and struck out three batters.

Arturo Guajardo was the first UTSA reliever, going 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out five. Daniel Garza finished the eighth inning. Luke Malone struck out two batters as he pitched the ninth inning.

The Roadrunners’ next Conference USA series is on the road next weekend against UAB. UTSA’s final conference home series is May 7-9 against Old Dominion.

UTSA baseball Simon Miller by Joe Alexander
Simon Miller was the starting pitcher for UTSA and got the win against Rice.

UTSA splits pair with Rice

UTSA baseball Hunter Mason by Joe Alexander
UTSA reliever Hunter Mason entered in the third inning and got the win against Rice in Saturday’s second game.
UTSA jumped on Rice early in Saturday’s second game for a 12-6 victory and split of their Conference USA doubleheader at Roadrunner Field.

UTSA reliever Hunter Mason entered the second game in the third inning and dominated Rice the rest of the way. The senior from Boerne Champion held Rice scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings to get the win. He allowed one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.

Rice’s first two pitchers struggled in a big way in UTSA’s victory. The Roadrunners scored five runs before recording their first hit. UTSA’s first six batters got on base on three walks and three hit-batters to score three runs. On what should have been the first out of the frame, UTSA scored two more runs on an error to go up 5-1.

UTSA led the rest of the way.

Roadrunners starting pitcher Kobe Jaramillo looked solid the first two innings before being pulled in the third. By avoiding the walks and hit batters that plagued Rice, Jaramillo left the game with UTSA leading by four runs.

Rice won the first game 5-4, rallying late after UTSA built a 4-2 lead.

UTSA and Rice wrap up the series with a 1 p.m. game Sunday at Roadrunner Field.

UTSA baseball Kobe Jaramillo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Kobe Jaramillo started Saturday’s second game on the mound and limited Rice to one run in the first two innings as the Roadrunners built a 10-1 lead.

Rice takes series opener from UTSA

UTSA's Jonathan Tapia hits a two-run double in the fourth inning against Rice on Friday, April 24, 2021, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Jonathan Tapia hits a two-run double in the fourth inning against Rice on Friday at Roadrunner Field.
Rice scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to break a tie and beat UTSA 8-6 in Conference USA action Friday at Roadrunner Field.

The game was the opener of a four-games series. UTSA and Rice play a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

Rice’s Justin Dunlap singled to lead off the sixth inning, went from first to third on a throwing error on a grounder, and scored the go-ahead run on a ground out.

Rice reliever Brandon Deskins pitched the final five innings to earn the win. He held UTSA scoreless on four hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Jonathan Tapia led UTSA with two hits, two runs and two RBIs. He had a two-run double to left-center and also scored in the fourth inning, when the Roadrunners scored three times to take a 6-5 lead.

Rice's Justin Dunlap (right) celebrates after scoring the go-ahead run against UTSA in the sixth inning on Friday at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander
Rice’s Justin Dunlap (right) celebrates after scoring the go-ahead run against UTSA in the sixth inning on Friday at Roadrunner Field. – photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA pitcher Luke Malone photo gallery

UTSA baseball Luke Malone by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Luke Malone was the starter and got his first win of the season against UT Arlington on March 5 at Roadrunner Field.
Luke Malone earned his first win of the season when he dominated in a start against UT Arlington.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander threw seven innings against UT Arlington on March 5 at Roadrunner Field, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

Malone has pitched in 10 games this season, five starts and five in relief, and is second on the team in appearances. He has a 2-1 record and 5.70 ERA and leads the Roadrunners in innings pitched with 30.0.

Malone appeared in four games in the covid-shortened 2020 season, making one start. He earned all-district honors as a high school senior, when he had a 10-1 record and 1.81 ERA at Round Rock.

UTSA and Flying Chanclas’ Leyton Barry photo gallery

UTSA baseball Leyton Barry by Joe Alexander
Leyton Barry playing left field for UTSA against Southern Miss on April 1, 2021 at Roadrunner Field.
Leyton Barry has played second base and outfield for the UTSA this season and also saw action in the infield for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio in last summer’s Texas Collegiate League season.

This season for UTSA, Barry is batting .324 in 14 games with seven RBIs and one home run. In the covid-shortened 2020 season, Barry was second on UTSA in batting at .353 in 13 games with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Houston throws right and bats left-handed.

Last summer with the Flying Chanclas, Barry batted .279 in 12 games with seven RBIs and one home run.

San Antonio Flying Chanclas baseball Leyton Barry by Joe Alexander
Leyton Barry playing for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio at Wolff Stadium during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League summer season.

UTSA baseball’s Kyle Bergeron photo gallery

UTSA's Kyle Bergeron batting against UT Arlington on March 7, 2021, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Kyle Bergeron batting against UT Arlington on March 7.
Kyle Bergeron has been playing for UTSA coach Pat Hallmark for a long time.

Bergeron was playing across town at University of the Incarnate Word when Hallmark was the coach there. Bergeron, now a graduate student, transferred to UTSA after Hallmark became the Roadrunners’ coach.

Bergeron is listed as a utility player and has been used mainly as a designated hitter this season. He is from Bridge City Texas.

The 6-foot-1 right-hander is batting .247 in 21 games with nine RBIs. Bergeron hit a home run in a March 10 home game against TCU. He is tied for third on the team in doubles with five.

UTSA baseball third baseman Austin Ochoa photo gallery

UTSA baseball third baseman Austin Ochoa playing against UT Arlington on March 6.
UTSA baseball third baseman Austin Ochoa playing against UT Arlington on March 6, 2021, at Roadrunner Field. – photo by Joe Alexander
Austin Ochoa is a freshman from Refugio.

The 6-foot-2 infielder is playing primarily at third base this season for UTSA.

Ochoa has played in 22 of UTSA’s first 26 games of the season. He is batting .250 and has two home runs and 13 RBIs.

Statistics from UTSA on sidearmsports.com

UTSA baseball first baseman Griffin Paxton: photo gallery

UTSA senior Griffin Paxton has 36 hits in the first 26 games of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA senior Griffin Paxton has 36 hits in the first 26 games of the season. – photo by Joe Alexander
Griffin Paxton leads UTSA in batting average, slugging and on-base percentage for players with more than 52 at-bats through 26 games.

The senior from West, Texas is batting .375, slugging .594 and has an on-base percentage of .487 and is one of only three Roadrunners to play in every game so far this season. He also has four home runs.

The 6-foot-2 first baseman had a hit and scored a run in all four games of last weekend’s series against Middle Tennesse, as UTSA won three out of four games.

Statistics from UTSA on sidearmsports.com

UTSA baseball pounds Middle Tennessee in series finale

UTSA second baseman Shea Gutierrez tags out a Middle Tennessee runner trying to steal second. Gutierrez had two hits, three RBIs, a walk and scored twice. UTSA beat Middle Tennessee 15-1 Sunday at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA second baseman Shea Gutierrez tags out a Middle Tennessee runner trying to steal second. Gutierrez had two hits, three RBIs, a walk and scored twice.
UTSA second baseman Shea Gutierrez tags out a Middle Tennessee runner trying to steal second. Gutierrez had two hits, three RBIs, a walk and scored twice.

UTSA won three times in a four-game Conference USA series against Middle Tennessee, taking the final game 15-1 in seven innings on Sunday at Roadrunner Field.

The Roadrunners had 12 hits Sunday including home runs from Ian Bailey, Dylan Rock and Nick Thornquist. UTSA broke the game open with four runs in the fourth inning and eight runs in the fifth.

UTSA pitchers Pepper Jones, Luke Malone and Arturo Guajardo combined to hold Middle Tennessee to hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Malone (2-1) entered the game in the fourth inning and pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win.