UTSA capped off its weekend series against the University of Tulsa with a 5-0 win on Sunday at Roadrunner Field.
Quickly closing out four innings in one hour and posting four runs in the process, the Roadrunners (21-30, 6-18 AAC) held the Golden Hurricane (20-29, 5-19 AAC) to a scoreless game. Consecutively recording two runs in the first two innings gave the ‘Runners a leg up as they fought through the middle innings.
Just like she did on Friday, senior utility Crislyne Moreno wasted no time making an impact, launching a leadoff home run over the right field fence and igniting the first inning. Junior infielder Katia Reyes followed Moreno with a home run of her own to lead 2-0. With three balls and two strikes working against her, Reyes got under the pitch, and the ball flew over center field for a homer as an audience member yelled, “Booyah!”
“It’s definitely an honor to play for my team,” Moreno said. “The season was filled with adversity but strength as well. We faced adversity in the middle of our season, and that was a hump we had to get over, but we had the strength to get out of that and finish the season. Leaving the program knowing that you made a difference, I think that’s something we all hope for as athletes.”
Sophomore outfielder Aubrie Henderson scored her second run of the year in the bottom of the second. Pinch running for senior utility Jaylen Prichard, Henderson advanced through the bases before finding herself on third. Freshman infielder Skylar Rucker lined a ball up the middle before racing to first as Henderson slid home. Trailing closely behind her, junior utility Madison Hornback scored on a wild pitch mishandled by Tulsa catcher Amber Turner.
Following one ball from Tulsa pitcher Maura Moore, senior outfielder Lindsey Davis ran around the bases one last time at her final home game when she homered out of left field, making her the second senior to score after one ball during the game.
“It feels so good,” Davis said through tears of her last home run at Roadrunner Field. “We’ve fought through so much, and we’ve had to fight all year. Hard work does pay off, but we need days like today. I couldn’t be more proud of the well-rounded team effort that we had.
“My biggest goal this year was to make everybody around me better. The easiest way to work out a kink in your swing is to help somebody else through their swing,” Davis said of the message she hopes to leave behind to her team. “Vann always tells us that teaching is a higher form of learning. You can’t win a game by yourself, so it’s about how you can impact the people around you and how you can build up those people. If we’re gonna win, it’s gonna take all of us.”
Defensively, the ‘Runners did not drop a single ball in the outfield or infield, keeping the Golden Hurricane scoreless as the Oklahoma-based university neglected to register a single hit or run through five innings.
To finish off the game, senior infielder Camryn Robillard caught a fly ball in far center field to close out the top of the seventh in the team’s fourth sweep of the year.
UTSA will play its last series of the year against University of South Florida 3 p.m. Friday at USF Softball Stadium.
