No. 2 UTSA suffers season-ending loss to No. 3 Charlotte

Rylan Renteria, Contributor

HOUSTON – After suffering a loss to No. 7 Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, No. 2 UTSA lost its second game to No. 3 Charlotte, 11-2, on Thursday morning at Reckling Park. 

The back-to-back losses ended the Roadrunners season, as well as a potential at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.

Matt King and Garrett Poston had two hits each in the loss.

Like Wednesday’s loss against the Blue Raiders,, UTSA gave up a home run in the first inning. 

After no response from the Roadrunners offense, Charlotte was able to plate two more runners to give themselves an early 3-0 lead.  

In the bottom of the third inning, the ‘Runners were able to bring the game within one run thanks to Poston’s solo home run and an RBI single from Taylor Smith. 

After being down one run with the season on the line, UTSA’s offense went cold and was unable to score another run. The once feared Roadrunner pitching rotation allowed Charlotte to add nine runs to result in the 11-2 blowout loss.

A key to the Roadrunners regular season success was the ability to pitch consistently and to respond with excellent hitting – neither of which were present in the two games played in the Conference USA tournament. Smith and Antonio Valdez, who had led the team in hitting statistics all year long, had a combined three hits on fifteen at-bats. 

Star pitcher Simon Miller gave up five runs in six innings in his appearance in the tournament. UTSA was outscored 16-3 in the two days.  

Despite the disappointing season-ending, the 2023 campaign was still a historic one for the UTSA baseball program. With a 38-19 overall record and multiple victories over Power Five teams, the ‘Runners grew their fan base exponentially and earned the respect of teams across the nation.