Junior infielder Ty Hodge delivered a walk-off RBI single to give UTSA baseball a 6-5 win over the University of Memphis on Sunday at Roadrunner Field.
Hodge and junior catcher Broc Parmer drove in the tying runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Roadrunners (33-10, 15-3 AAC) life after falling behind in the middle innings. The Tigers (16-25, 4-12 AAC) battled the ‘Runners all the way until the eleventh inning, where Hodge sealed the win and capped off a flawless conference series weekend.
“It was a fun game, obviously walk-offs are always fun,” Hodge said after the game. “It was a good game. They played well. I thought we played pretty well, just didn’t hit as well as we have the past two days, but that’s baseball. We put ourselves in a position to win. He gave me a good pitch to hit, and I got the job done.”
Trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, Hodge knocked an RBI single through the right side of the diamond and brought home senior infielder Norris McClure. Parmer, who was pinch-hitting for junior infielder Cade Sadler, sliced a crucial RBI triple to tie the game 5-5 and force extra-innings.
With the bases loaded, Hodge popped one into center field and scored the winning run uncontested.
“I kind of thought he was going to go fastball just because it was bases loaded with the winning run on third,” Hodge said of his approach in the final at-bat. “Fastball is [the opposing pitcher’s] best pitch, so I figured he’d go fastball. So, I was just ready to hit that.”
McClure put UTSA on the board in the first frame with an RBI single. Senior catcher Andrew Stucky and senior outfielder James Taussig registered solo-home runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
The ‘Runners entered extra-innings for the second time this season, a deviation from the norm as the team has notched 10 run-rule wins this season, including two this series against Memphis.
“We handled it well,” Hodge said of the adversity the team faced late in the game. “Our team’s got a lot of fighters. We’re never out of it. Extra-innings are fun. We were ready for the challenge and got it done.”
Hodge led in RBIs for the second-consecutive game against the Tigers with two, while he, McClure and Stucky tied for the lead in hits with two each. Senior pitcher Conor Myles and sophomore stopper Robert Orloski made appearances on the bump, but it was junior pitcher Connor Kelley who held Memphis scoreless in the final three frames.
“He was [excellent],” coach Pat Hallmark said of Kelley. “All year we’ve been using him as a one or two inning guy because he’s always been effective for one or two innings. I’m very proud today because we needed him to go that third inning. Proud of him.”
UTSA will head up I-35 to face rival Texas State University at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bobcat Ballpark.
