UTSA baseball beat Texas A&M University 7-4 on Tuesday at Blue Bell Park.
After falling into an early 2-0 deficit, the Roadrunners (12-3) scored seven runs in three innings to take a firm lead over the hosting Aggies (6-5). Still without head coach Pat Hallmark, the ‘Runners held on and earned the win thanks to veteran-like performances from a couple of freshmen.
“It was huge,” coach Ryan Aguayo said of the play from freshman duo Jordan Ballin and Nathan Hodge. “We practice and tell them all fall, ‘We’re trying to beat the best in the country.’ We try to prep them and put them in high-pressure situations, and when the lights came on here, they stepped up.”
UTSA scored its first run of the night in the top of the third inning after senior infielder Norris McClure popped a sacrifice fly out to left field, allowing senior catcher Andrew Stucky to score.
The Roadrunners took the lead in the fourth after N. Hodge singled into center field, allowing Ballin and junior infielder Ty Hodge to score. In the top of the fifth, McClure reached first base off of a throwing error from Aggies infielder Matt Bergevin; shortly after, junior outfielder Drew Detlefsen picked up an RBI single, allowing McClure to score unearned. Later in the inning, Ballin brought in three runs after he sliced an RBI double down the left field line, allowing Detlefsen and senior outfielder James Taussig to score and T. Hodge to reach home unearned.
“I think we all played as a team. We played for each other,” Ballin said post-game. “We knew we had to play our best baseball and pulling for each other brought us to this win.”
Junior pitcher James Hubbard got the start on the bump for UTSA. Hubbard is the team’s typical Tuesday starter, and he allowed two runs on four hits across three innings and tossed two strikes. Not wanting to relinquish the lead, Aguayo called upon two starting-caliber pitchers — sophomore Robert Orloski and senior Braylon Owens — to close out the match.
“They were fresh, and they’re some of our better arms,” Aguayo said of the pitching tandem. “Everybody in the bullpen was ready tonight.”
Orloski and Owens yielded two runs combined in the final four innings and sealed the win for UTSA.
“For sure, it really does,” Ballin said when asked if beating an SEC opponent means a little bit more to the team. “We wanted to prove to the higher-ranked teams that ‘Hey, we have the skills we need to compete with you guys too.’”
N. Hodge and Ballin led the team in RBIs with two apiece and the team finished with six total hits in 34 at-bats.
UTSA will next face Texas Southern University in a three-game series. Game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Roadrunner Field.
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