Category: college baseball

UTSA lost its 2024 baseball season opener on Friday at Roadrunner Field. UT-Arlington took a 9-0 lead and held off UTSA 10-9.

The Roadrunners had 11 hits including two home runs from Caleb Hill and one from Mason Lytle.

Antonio Valdez and Caleb Hill combined to hit three home runs to lead UTSA to a 14-3 victory over Utah on Sunday at Roadrunner Field.

UTSA (10-3) won the last two games of the three-game series after Utah won the opener. The Roadrunners had 12 hits on Sunday after scoring 11 runs on 17 hits on Saturday.

Valdez hit his second and third home runs of the season and drove in five runs. Valdez has 23 hits and 22 RBIs in UTSA’s first 13 games.

Hill hit his first home run of the season and finished with two hits, two runs and three RBIs.

Hill also scored on a double steal. It was the second time in the last week that UTSA scored on a double steal.

UTSA’s Leyton Barry hit a three-run double in the sixth inning. Shane Sirdashney, Taylor Smith and Isaiah Walker scored on the hit. The Roadrunners scored six runs in the inning to take an 11-2 lead.

UTSA starting pitcher Robbie Maldonado went 4.0 innings and allowed one run. Reliever Daniel Garza went 3.0 innings and allowed 1 run and got the win.

UTSA is piling up wins over the first two weeks of baseball season.

The Roadrunners have won eight of their first 10 games. UTSA beat Incarnate Word 2-1 on Wednesday at Roadrunner Field by scoring on a double steal in the bottom of the eighth inning.

UTSA’s starting batting order for this early season game:

1B Garrett Poston
CF Shane Sirdashney
2B Leyton Barry
SS Antonio Valdez
LF Caleb Hill
C Sammy Diaz
RF Tye Odom
DH Taylor Smith
3B Isaiah Walker

The Roadrunners’ starting pitcher was Ryan Ward.

Daniel Shafer was one of UTSA’s top relief pitchers early in the 2022 season.

The junior right-hander from Willis, Texas appeared in 16 games in relief and recorded a 3-1 record with five saves and a 3.29 ERA.

Shafer went a stretch of six straight appearances without allowing an earned run. He did not pitch after April 24 due to an injury.

UTSA’s Garrett Poston batted .311 in 43 games including 35 starts with two home runs and 26 RBIs.

The sophomore from Clear Creek High School in League City in the Houston area led UTSA in on-base percentage at .450 with the help of 26 walks.

Leyton Barry led UTSA in batting in 2022 at .343 and held down the starting second base position. He also had 38 RBIs and a team-high seven stolen bases in 56 games.

In 2021 he batted a team-best .382 with four home runs and 27 RBIs in 31 games.

A 6-foot-2 junior from Houston, he went to IMG Academy in Florida in high school.

Jonathan Tapia played in 56 of 58 UTSA games in 2022, seeing time mostly at third base but also playing in other infield spots and in the outfield.

The senior from O’Connor High School batted .309 with six home runs and 50 RBIs in 2022. In 2021, he batted .295 with 24 RBIs in 46 games.

Luke Malone enters the Conference USA baseball tournament as the UTSA pitching staff leader in wins (8-3), ERA (2.82), starts (11) and innings pitched (76 2/3).

The right-hander from Round Rock also has two saves. He has appeared in 17 games this season.

Last season he went 2-2 with a 6.41 ERA in 17 games with seven starts.

In the 2021 Texas Collegiate League summer season, he had a 4-1 record and 2.89 ERA in nine games for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Jacob Jimenez is projected to be UTSA’s starting pitcher on Friday against UAB in the second game of their Conference USA baseball series at Roadrunner Field.

The senior right-hander from Houston has a 2-1 record with 5.01 ERA. He has appeared in 14 games this season including eight starts.