SAN ANTONIO — After giving up five runs in the top of the second inning, UTSA baseball went on to score nine unanswered, handing the University of North Carolina at Charlotte an 11-5 loss on Friday at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners (26-12, 9-4 American) led by two after the opening inning, but quickly fell behind after a second-inning five-spot from the 49ers (18-19, 3-10 American). Rather than bowing out after a rough top half of the second, UTSA responded with four runs of its own to retake the lead. Senior starting pitcher Gunnar Brown eventually settled in on the mound, and when Charlotte started getting to him in the fifth, junior pitcher Connor Kelley checked in and tossed 4.1 scoreless. Junior outfielder Lane Haworth put a bow on the win with a two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth.
“It was a great night to hit,” coach Pat Hallmark said after the game. “I’ve been coaching here for a while, and back when I was an assistant coach at Rice [University], we would come here. I remember days like this, and the final score was 19-15. We always have this South Texas infield that’s fairly hard, and then you get this South wind that’s gushing out. I kind of thought both teams would get into double digits tonight. I’m proud of Gunnar and Kelley for holding that lineup down.”
Graduate catcher Andrew Stucky got things started for UTSA in the bottom of the first with an RBI single through the left side of the infield. Sophomore outfielder Christian Hallmark added a run to close out the inning with an RBI groundout.
In the top of the second, Charlotte scored five runs — two unearned off of passed balls from Brown.
Now trailing by three, the Roadrunners’ second-inning rally began with an RBI double from sophomore infielder Jordan Ballin. Shortly after, senior outfielder Drew Detlefsen scored Ballin with an RBI double of his own. Haworth tied the game with an RBI groundout before Stucky gave UTSA the advantage with an RBI single into left field. Christian Hallmark popped out to left field in the next at-bat, ending the inning.
Ballin racked up his second RBI of the night in the following inning with a single through the right side of the infield, scoring sophomore utility Jacob Silva.
Silva extended the Roadrunners’ lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to left field that brought home Haworth.
In his second Friday-night start, Brown battled through a rough second inning and finished the game with seven hits and two earned runs allowed, while tossing three strikeouts.
Kelley dominated his appearance, reestablishing himself as one of UTSA’s top options out of the bullpen. He finished allowing just two hits, zero runs and throwing six strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched.
“I just tried to keep it simple, stay relaxed, throw strikes and get ahead,” Kelley said of his mentality on the mound.
Haworth’s homer in the eighth all but sealed the win.
Game two of UTSA v. Charlotte is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Roadrunner Field.
