UTSA baseball earned its second-straight American Conference title on Friday against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. On Tuesday, six Roadrunners were named to the All-Conference Team.
Outfielder Drew Detlefsen was named the American Conference Player of the Year alongside his First-Team All-Conference selection. Similarly, Conor Myles picked up the American Conference Pitcher of the Year award to pair with his First-Team selection.
Infielder Caden Miller, catcher Andrew Stucky and reliever Sam Simmons joined Detlefsen and Myles on the conference’s First Team, while reliever Connor Kelley notched Second-Team honors.
For Myles, his award comes after a season of maturity and perseverance. When UTSA ace Robert Orloski went down just 23 pitches into the season, someone had to step up in his place. Who better to do so than Myles? The 6-foot-4 Aussie is the Roadrunners’ longest-tenured pitcher, having seen action for UTSA in its first season in the American back in 2024. According to Myles, his leap to the conference’s top arm was put into motion at the beginning of the season, where he set some pretty lofty goals for himself.
“It means a lot, individually. It was kind of the goal that I had the entire year,” Myles explained. “Especially at the start of the year after Rob got hurt, I really knew that I had to pick up some slack. I think the coaches just helped put me in a great position to succeed and, even though our defense has looked a bit iffy at some points, they were definitely a big reason for my successful year.”
East Carolina University’s Ethan Norby got the Preseason Pitcher of the Year nod — more fuel for fire to Myles.
“I feel like, [over] the last couple of years, Norby over at ECU has kind of been getting all the praise in the conference as Pitcher of the Year, and I feel like, as a competitor, your goal is to go out and beat people like that. Norby is a good pitcher, but I don’t see a reason as to why I can’t be better,” Myles said.
On the offensive side of the ball, Detlefsen joined former Roadrunner Mason Lytle as American Conference Player of the Year award winners; both players also received Newcomer of the Year honors the year before their POY season. Coach Pat Hallmark has been vocal about challenging Detlefsen multiple times this season, pushing him to perform at his ceiling. Detlefsen and Hallmark’s dynamic was instrumental in Detlefsen’s standout season.
“He’s the best coach I’ve ever had. I’ll do anything for him,” Detlefsen stated. “He gets the most out of me and getting the Player of the Year [took] a lot of help from him and coach [Ryan] Aguayo. So, I couldn’t thank them enough.”
Detlefsen finished the season No. 2 in the nation in hits (92) while placing first in the American in RBIs (67) and third in home runs (13).
UTSA needs all six of its All-Conference selections to play at their best in the upcoming American Conference tournament if the team wants to secure its first tournament win under Hallmark. No. 1 seed UTSA will play its first game of the tournament on Friday at Baycare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.
