UTSA BSB Wins Sunday to prevent series sweep to open 2025

The first weekend of the 2025 UTSA Baseball season is in the books! With that, I’m introducing a new name for my series recap posts (sorry, Aaron). With my change of responsibilities, my goal for this season is to have a more structured, repeatable format. I want these to still help the Domeheads revisit the series or get caught up on how the boys did on the diamond, while also condensing it slightly for ease of reading. Three good things, three not so good, and the payoff pitch (the midweek preview). So, with that, welcome to the Full Count Recap! 

After what seemed like a long off-season, anticipation was building for the 2025 season. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners came out of the box slowly and had to wait until Sunday for their first win of the season. Throughout the weekend there were ups and there were downs as UTSA dropped their first series of the season, winning just one of three games against the Mavericks from UT-Arlington. There is certainly plenty to build on and the opportunity is there for the ‘Runners to have a successful 2025 campaign. 

Strikes (or the good) 

Don’t Panic Yet…

You may have forgotten, but UTSA dropped the same number of games in the opening series to the Mavericks to open 2024 as they did this weekend; two. The main difference being how many games they played: four last year, only three this year. Most would probably agree the overall regular season was more good than bad. So, all is not lost. 

Newcomers shined by way of multi-hit games from Norris McClure and Caden Miller, glovework by Ty Hodge and Jordan Ballin, and solid relief work from Mike DeBattista and Kendall Dove. 

On the mound, DeBattista delivered three innings of relief, allowing three hits, one run, and five strikeouts. Caden Miller had the biggest moment of his young collegiate career when the true freshman hit a three-run homerun that put the ‘Runners on top for good in Sunday’s matchup. 

The veterans also put work in. Conor Myles had one of, if not his best outing as a Roadrunner, going 4.1 IP while only allowing two hits, one walk, three strikeouts and zero runs. In a closely contest Sunday matchup, he helped preserve UTSA’s lead. 

Mason Lytle and James Taussig both had web-gem plays in CF and RF respectively. Lytle made a diving catch to end a multi-run inning by the Mavericks and Taussig made a leaping catch against the wall to keep the ball in the park. 

Finally, Tye Odom had two RBIs in the Sunday game. All this to say, give them some time to work out the kinks and let’s not panic, yet. 

Speed on the basepaths…

We heard from Coach Hallmark in the preseason pressers how athletic this team was. It showed itself in multiple ways this weekend. The Roadrunners were aggressive while running the bases (although it didn’t work out perfectly) and their hustle out of the box helped prevent at least a few double plays while at the plate. 

There were also bright moments in the field, some mentioned above where that same athleticism helped defensively as well. Again, it’s not perfect, and why would it be on day 1, 2, and 3? However, it is something that the team can build on, and when some of the three-game weekend rust comes off that athleticism and hustle could make an even bigger impact. 

Pitching Potential…

You may be wondering why I have pitching as one of the Strikes, when UTSA dropped two games and were outscored 15-10. That’s fair. But there was also some good. 

Of the 27 innings played this weekend, they posted 19 scoreless innings. They struck out fifteen across the three-game series and only allowed TWO free passes: one walk and one hit batter. Finally, they only used seven pitchers. For a program that at times has struggled to produce longer outings and that may have less depth as previous years that isn’t a bad way to start the season. 

Absolutely the losses sting and at the end of the day, that is what matters, but it can be motivation to newcomers and returners who are looking to turn the page this season.

Balls (or the bad)

Two out runs…

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Allowing two out runs. All five of the Mavericks’ runs on Friday came with two outs on the scoreboard. Two out runs are deflating in so many ways. It adds new life to the offensive team, the pitcher starts to tire, and it’s more time you’re asking your defense to be in the field. 

Now, credit where it’s due. They did clean this up some in the remaining games. None of the Mavericks three runs Sunday came with two outs, and only two of their Saturday runs came with two outs. If UTSA can clean this up, it could really help them out down the road. 

Slow start…

It took thirteen innings, across two games, before UTSA scored their first run of the 2025 season. Not the worst drought for scoring, but the Roadrunners were shutout in zero games last season. A late surge on Saturday (which we’ve grown accustomed to before) prevented them from doubling that number.

Not only was it quiet bats, but they also left far too many runners on early. Multiple innings the runners were in scoring position. That is a staple that UTSA will need to improve on if they want to make noise for a second consecutive season in the American and surpass thirty wins. Especially on those games when six to eight runs just aren’t going to be produced because Baseball is Baseball. 

The Pay-Off Pitch

For the fifth consecutive season, UTSA is traveling to Waco for an early season midweek matchup. The Roadrunners have gotten the best of the Bears the last two seasons. Perhaps the highlight of this series matchup was in 2023 where Coach Hallmark mentioned on the ESPN + interview that he wished the team had more power. The team heard the comment or likely a similar one and responded. 

Baylor just wrapped up their opening weekend series against Youngstown State, who UTSA faces off against at the end of the month in San Antonio. Baylor won all three games, while outscoring Youngstown State 38-11. Hopefully in a few weeks the Roadrunners can have some similar output. 

After going 22-31 overall last season and 10-20 in the Big 12, the experts don’t have much higher expectations for the Bears in 2025. They were projected by D1 Baseball to finish 12^th out of 14 teams. 

Something to keep in mind is that they have plenty of veterans on offense. Eight of their nine projected starters are in their final year of baseball. They also have plenty of lefties to throw out on the mound. So, you could see Coach Hallmark and staff platoon some guys. 

Left fielder Wesley Jordan is an individual to keep an eye on. Last season he produced an OPS of 1.086. 

It’s always intriguing to see how midweek games play out, especially early in the season. Plenty of guys on both teams still haven’t had enough quality at bats to get an idea or solid sample size on. 

For UTSA, they’ll be looking to build on Sunday’s win, get a win over a power conference team, and get to .500 in the W/L column. 

For Baylor, they certainly want to get back on the right side of the final box score. They also will want to start building towards a better campaign than 2024. 

Lastly, pay attention to the weather as some teams further North in Texas are already making different arrangements for their midweek game. For now, first pitch will be 6:00 PM from Waco. 

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