UTSA baseball dealt the University of Memphis a 12-2 loss on Friday at Roadrunner Field.
After being held scoreless in the first two innings, the Roadrunners (31-10, 13-3 AAC) responded by scoring 12 runs across the middle innings. Senior outfielder James Taussig and junior infielder Ty Hodge put seven of the team’s 12 runs on the board with just two swings, and with junior ace Zach Royse on the mound, the ‘Runners closed out the Tigers (16-25, 4-12 AAC) in seven innings.
“I feel good,” coach Pat Hallmark said of the team’s performance. “I thought Royse was good. Royse has had a really good year. He’s been very consistent, very mature — all these things we like. Tonight I thought he had his best stuff, which is saying something because he’s usually 93 miles-per-hour. Great job by Royse.”
Senior outfielders Mason Lytle and Taussig, along with senior infielder Norris McClure, picked up RBIs in the bottom of the third frame to give the team an early 3-1 lead.
In the fifth, Taussig delivered a three-run bomb over the right field wall and broke the game open in the Roadrunners’ favor.
Royse moved to 6-4 on the mound after tossing four strikeouts and allowing one run on four hits across six innings.
“Just mixing off-speed with the fastball is what worked for me today,” Royse said. “This time of year, [my] body is feeling kind of good; I’ve been throwing for quite a while now. [Warm weather] definitely helps.”
Hodge drove in the final nail in the coffin with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth frame.
“The slam was just a fastball center cut. I just put a good swing on it,” Hodge said. “2-0 [count], I thought, ‘He’s probably not going to want to throw a ball with the bases loaded.’ I was just ready to hit the fastball.”
Memphis scored its only two runs of the night four innings apart from each other. UTSA held the Tigers scoreless for five out of the seven innings played.
Senior catcher Andrew Stucky led the team in hits with three; Taussig and Hodge led in RBIs with four a piece. Junior pitcher James Hubbard pitched the final inning and allowed one run on one hit with one strikeout; UTSA had zero errors.
“We get a lot of attention for our hitting, but I loved the clean defense,” Hallmark said. “When we can make the routine play, they have to earn everything. We’re hard to beat when the defense is clean.”
UTSA will look to claim the series against the Tigers at 4 p.m. Saturday at Roadrunner Field.
