CLEARWATER, Fla. — UTSA baseball allowed four runs in the final two innings as the team fell to Tulane University 10-6 on Thursday at BayCare Ballpark.
The Roadrunners (43-12, 24-5 AAC) fell behind early after junior ace Zach Royse allowed four runs in the top of the third inning. Senior catcher Lorenzo Morresi tied the game 6-6 in the sixth before coach Pat Hallmark called upon sophomore stopper Robert Orloski in the top of the eighth to keep the game within reach. Orloski allowed a two-run home run on his second pitch on the bump and the Green Wave (32-24, 14-14 AAC) rode that momentum to an upset win.
“We threw some terrible pitches,” Hallmark said. “[Royse] didn’t execute pitches when he needed to. He didn’t pitch bad, he got ahead of them. He pitched stupid. He got beat 0-2 multiple times. It keeps happening, it’s just frustrating.”
UTSA scored its first points of the game in the bottom of the third inning after senior outfielder Mason Lytle lined an RBI double into center field. Senior infielder Norris McClure brought in Lytle shortly after with a single through the left side of the diamond.
Hallmark opted to save Royse for the five-seed Green Wave as opposed to starting him against the eight-seed Owls on Tuesday. The extra-day off proved futile as Royse allowed six runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.
The ‘Runners tied the game in the sixth with an RBI single from freshman utility Caden Miller and Morresi’s RBI double. With junior infielder Ty Hodge heading for third off a groundout from his brother — freshman utility Nathan Hodge — Morresi was called for interference, ending the inning.
Even with the middle-inning rally, it was junior pitcher Connor Kelley who received the loss on the mound — his first of the season. Kelley allowed a home run and a single in the eighth.
Tulane tacked on a run in the ninth as the team advanced to its fifth-consecutive American Athletic Conference semifinal game.
The ‘Runners’ path to an AAC tournament victory is a steep one. UTSA will have to defeat No. 4 Florida Atlantic University on Friday, and then defeat Tulane twice on Saturday to advance to the championship game — a challenge Hallmark hopes his team will be ready for.
“I hope the pitchers are pissed off,” he said after the loss. “We’ve got to execute more pitches. Our first goal is always to throw strikes, three walks or less. You’re not going to beat good people when you throw 0-2 pitches over the plate, Tulane is good. We keep doing it. This is not the first game it’s happened. The second half of the season it’s been a little bit of an achilles heel. I don’t see adjustments being made when they are aware of the adjustments that need to be made. We need to coach better too.”
UTSA will face Florida Atlantic at noon Friday at BayCare Ballpark.
