UTSA softball won its first game of the A&M Invitational Saturday afternoon at Davis Diamond, beating the University of St. Thomas 12-8. Junior second baseman Jaylen Prichard opened and closed the game with runs to end the team’s three-game losing streak.
“Every at bat is a new at bat, every inning is a new inning,” Prichard said. “So just taking it and just being the leadoff, it’s not a lot of pressure going up there every single time because I’m used to it.”
UTSA (3-11) tied the game during the sixth inning before sophomore outfielder Madison Lenton gave the Roadrunners a 9-8 lead over UST (1-13) in the seventh inning while the Tommies went scoreless.
After hitting a single up center field, Lenton was able to advance to second base thanks to a wild pitch. Junior infielder Camryn Robillard came up to bat and hit a pop fly into right field, though a Tommie outfielder dropped the ball to give Robillard time to push towards second base. Lenton raced across the second half of the diamond, giving UTSA a 9-8 lead over UST for the first time since the top of the first inning.
“This is my opportunity. I haven’t been in the whole game, but I’m going to use this pinch at bat and I’m gonna get a hit,” Lenton said of her run. “And so I really wanted that ending, I wanted to start it off with a hit and I knew I could take extra bases on the dirt balls. I was determined to do something with it.”
Robillard, Prichard and sophomore outfielder Madi Hays ran home to score an additional three runs in the final inning bringing the score to 12-8 to earn their first win of the invitational.
“We always say ‘pressure is a privilege,’ so understanding that, I feel like we just kind of ate that up,” Prichard said of their late game lead, also crediting senior catcher Erykah Guerrero’s family for coming up with that motto.
As for head coach Vann Stuedeman, she is still having a ‘Vanntastic’ first season with the ‘Runners.
“We always have a Vanntastic day. Even if we’re not having a Vanntastic day, we just wake up in the morning and decide it’s going to be a Vanntastic day,” she said.
Stuedeman’s late-game decision to bring in designated players to pinch run and hit proved to be beneficial in the overall outcome.
“The whole game is about calculated risks. We’re struggling to get some W’s in the win column, so we’re just trying to figure out who the right mix is and who needs to play where,” Stuedeman said.
