UTSA defeated UT-Arlington 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field. A late game spark from sophomore outfielder Aiden Baumann guided the Roadrunners to regain the lead and win a walkoff thriller.
“We have to continue to be resilient,” head coach Pat Hallmark said after the game. “I’m not ready to say that we are a resilient team, but we were resilient today and that’s a start.”
After a scoreless first inning junior infielder Hector Rodriguez sliced a RBI single to give the Roadrunners an early lead.
Sophomore pitcher Zach Royse pitched four scoreless innings until Mavericks infielder Jordan Medellin singled to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Royse finished his season debut with six strikeouts against just one run allowed.
“I’ve been working hard at lowering my walk numbers and just throwing more strikes,” Royse said. “Pretty excited about that.”
With both teams struggling to put up runs in the second half of the game, it left Baumann to come in the bottom of the ninth with two outs left. With the game on the line, Baumann found contact and dropped a shallow fly ball into right field. UTSA won with a final score of 2-1.
“Going up there, just getting my chance, I was staying ready the whole game,” Baumann said.
Saturday brought the Roadrunners to a two-game win streak, after dropping their home opener on Friday, they found themselves back in the win column. With one game remaining, the Roadrunners need to lean back on their fundamentals to close the series off with a win.
“Throw strikes first, we walked three yesterday and we didn’t walk many today but throwing strikes is always paramount,” Hallmark said. “Throw strikes first and then be resilient and tough, that’s what we need to do.”
UTSA will finish off their four-game stretch against the Mavericks at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Roadrunner Field.
