CLEARWATER, Fla. — UTSA baseball, led by the American Conference Player of the Year senior outfielder Drew Detlefsen’s two RBIs, defeated East Carolina University 4-2 on Saturday at Baycare Ballpark.
Detlefsen opened the game up with a solo home run in his first at-bat of the day. The Pirates (34-22-1) tied the game in the top of the third before the Roadrunners (38-19) pulled back ahead in the bottom half of the inning. East Carolina tied the game up once again in the fourth, but UTSA created separation in the fourth with two RBI singles from Detlefsen and freshman infielder Aidan Eschelman. In the sixth, junior outfielder Lane Haworth snuffed out what would’ve been a game-tying two-run blast from Pirates infielder Austin Irby with a leaping grab at the right-field wall. Haworth proceeded to double-up the runner at first for out No. 3.
UTSA leaned on its top-two options out of the bullpen, senior stopper Sam Simmons and junior pitcher Connor Kelley, to secure the win and the team’s first conference tournament final appearance under coach Pat Hallmark since the 2022 Conference USA tournament.
“Sam was great,” Hallmark said after the game. “We played good. East Carolina is really good. We didn’t get a lot of hits. I kept thinking, ‘Geez, we can do better with hitting.’ They weren’t giving us anything. You could tell because they hit and they walked us a little bit.
“They were pitching us tough, that’s why we didn’t get as many hits. East Carolina is fantastic. I’m proud of the whole team, team effort.”
Detlefsen’s home run in the first inning was the Roadrunners’ lone hit through the first three innings. Still, UTSA found other ways to get on base and score. The Roadrunners finished the game with four hits, five walks and seven hit-by-pitches.
In the third, graduate catcher Andrew Stucky reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing sophomore utility Caden Miller to score. East Carolina tied the game 2-2 in the fourth before the Roadrunners jumped back in front with RBI singles from Detlefsen and Eschelman.
Across the final five innings, both sides were held scoreless. Simmons pitched 4.2 innings with four hits and three strikeouts, while Kelley slammed the door on the Pirates with two strikeouts in the ninth to lock up the win.
Hallmark was questioned about his decision to send out Kelley after Kelley threw 61 pitches against the University of Memphis on Friday. His answer was simple:
“We’ve got to win,” he said.
The Roadrunners’ opponent is contingent on the results of Saturday’s final two games. Regardless of the opponent, UTSA will play the championship game at 11 a.m. CST Sunday at Baycare Ballpark.
