UTSA Sweeps USF, Clinches Share of AAC Regular Season Championship

After their seventh straight conference series win this season that also featured another weekend sweep, the UTSA Roadrunners are now completely in the driver’s seat for an outright, conference regular season championship. With their now six game lead over three other teams, they have officially clinched a share of the championship.  Should UTSA win one more game or all three second place teams lose one game, and they won’t need to share the title. 

The good spot for the Roadrunners is that they still have six games left in conference play. The last time that UTSA Baseball won a conference regular season championship was 2008. UTSA also tied the program wins record of 39 that year. With Sunday’s win, the Roadrunners are now 37-10 on the year, and 18-3 in conference play. 

With the AAC only playing 27 games, UTSA can only at best tie the most conference wins in the regular season. They can, however, reach 39 wins during the regular season for the first time, and need only three wins to set a new program record for wins while simultaneously reaching forty wins for the first time. But for now, the job is not finished. Let’s look at this weekend’s full-count recap. 

STRIKES

Chipping away…

Perhaps what is most impressive in UTSA going on the road to sweep the #2 team in the conference was that they pulled out wins in three close games. Now, I know, Friday’s final was 11-5. UTSA was trailing going into the 7^th though, and had not been able to put up serious damage against the Bulls’ Ace, Braun. 

They chipped away in the early innings, got his pitch count up, and forced USF to go to the pen 1/3 of the way through the sixth. The Roadrunners then used a five run eighth to take the lead, and a three-run 9^th to pad the lead. If not for some key plays I’ll get to later, the series opener could have been a much different situation. 

The Roadrunners also chipped away in game two. ESPN+ had stream issues for their live events across the country on Saturday. This meant that fans were unable to watch until the 5^th inning. 

UTSA got out to an early lead and kept adding to their run production and keeping pace with the Bulls scoring as well. A four run fifth would turn out to be the final inning they scored in, but would prove to be huge as the bullpen struggled late allowing two out runs. 

And finally, the pitcher’s duel on Sunday. The game was scoreless until the 6^th, when USF’s Jackson Mayo broke up Braylon Owens’ perfect game with a solo home run. UTSA answered right back and put up a picket fence box score with a what would end up being very important solo home run in the ninth that allowed them to hold on 3-2. 

So, while they did it a little different each day, the Roadrunners chipped away and wore down the South Florida Bulls. 

This is the main aspect that makes UTSA so dangerous. 

You don’t feel like you can ever fully relax if you’re the opposing team. They have a dangerous starting nine and at any point you feel like they can rally for 4 or 5 runs in a frame. For another conference series they tagged the other team’s Friday night guy and were rewarded for it. 

Key Moments…

There were a lot of key moments in this one that proved huge in not only winning the series but also getting the sweep. Some that will recycle the highlight reels but others that you look back on and point to for difference makers. 

Zach Royse struggled some on Friday. While he still managed to go six, his defense managed to make some key plays while Royse did his part to keep the ‘Runners in it.

Royse got a ground ball in the fourth to post a scoreless frame, stop the two-run innings and slow the game down. USF would only score one more time on the night. 

The other big play on Friday came in the sixth. Already surrendering one run, Ty Hodge made a spectacular play behind second that helped end the inning. The chopper hit off Royse’s glove, Hodge stayed with it and recorded the 6-3 putout. The play prevented a run, ended the inning, and stranded two. 

Maybe the biggest moment of the year came Friday night via freshman Caden Miller. Miller did not start the game. He instead got an opportunity to pinch hit in the seventh with the bases loaded. He hammered the second pitch for a no-doubter grand slam. It would give UTSA the lead for good. 

There were also big plays Saturday and Sunday. A few times UTSA made a big fielder’s choice going SS to 3B to get the lead runner. 

The Roadrunners turned traditional and non-traditional double plays at key points. Mason Lytle made a huge diving catch on Sunday keeping the leadoff Bull off the basepaths in a tight game. 

It was the type of play you hope and look for a team to emulate come tournament time. The grittiness, and determination to not lose a game. It wasn’t a perfect weekend, but UTSA came out on top each day. 

Pitching…

Let’s start with Owen’s gem on Sunday. It was unsure coming into the game which arms were available for the series finale. Orloski tossed 44 pitches on Friday. Kelley threw a season high 60 pitches on Saturday. And Myles struggled some so only went three IP which forced UTSA to use three bullpen arms. 

Owens did exactly what he needed to do. He worked quickly and efficiently getting into the 6^th while only facing the minimum. While he missed out on making history, he still managed to go 8 and two-thirds while only allowing two runs on four hits, no walks and seven Ks. 

He got some defensive help, but he also commanded the zone which gave him chances for chase pitches and kept almost all the contact soft. Of the 107 pitches thrown, 70 were for strikes. 

On Saturday, while the arms struggled with two out runs, each arm came in and ended the jam/inning to not use a lot of pitches right out of the pen. 

Orloski and Kelley shined. 

Kelley delivered a gutsy performance where he shut down the Bulls to secure the series. While Kelley fell behind to several batters, he stuck with it and went 3.1 while only allowing 3 hits and walking one. 

Orloski not only shut things down on Friday, but he also came in Sunday in a very high leverage spot against USF’s most dangerous hitter.

Orloski won the face off, getting Greico to fly out to RF to end the game, completing the sweep, securing the #1 seed for the tournament, and clinching at least a share of the regular season title. 

BALLS

Two out runs…

I mention this a lot when it presents itself. Mostly because of how much it can swing a game. The Bulls scored seven runs on Saturday. All seven runs came with two outs. Twice, the UTSA arms allowed a two-run home run with two outs. 

The ball is going to fly in Clearwater in a few weeks. It can be a very hitter-friendly park. This will help the UTSA bats, but it can also hurt the team. This is an area I’d like to see UTSA continue to try and clean up as the end of the regular season nears. 

To give credit, it was better on Saturday and Sunday as only three of the Bulls nine runs the rest of the weekend came with two outs. 

Sequence damage and small ball…

I’m cheating a little bit here. To keep with the flow, I’m putting two areas in one “Ball”. UTSA gave up a lot of walk/hit combinations in the first two games of the series. 

Some of this, mostly on Friday, came during key points in the contest where the pitching staff was working around USF’s better hitters. They still walked more than they struck out on Friday. 

They flipped that script on Saturday but still got out-hit and almost gave the game away being unable to score after the fifth and allowing runners on for multi-run homeruns. 

I don’t want to nitpick too much as this was still a dangerous and productive offense the Roadrunners were facing. USF came into the weekend in 2^nd place for a reason. 

The part B to this final point is UTSA’s small ball. It just did not work on Sunday. In an already mentioned very tight game, UTSA missed out on two runs early by unsuccessfully using the bunt. 

The first was a bunt pop out where Detlefsen was unable to score from third on what would have been a safety squeeze. 

The second attempt got down, however, it had too much speed and went right to the pitcher who was able to get the lead runner with the 1-5 fielder’s choice. 

Three consecutive innings UTSA left a runner at third base, unable to take or increase the lead. Thankfully, they gutted out a win, again, the type of gritty and determined win you want to see in late May. 

THE PAY OFF PITCH

We’ve made it to the final Tuesday midweek game of the regular season. Since the AAC doesn’t give first round byes, game one of the conference tournament comes in two weeks from Tuesday. 

It seems appropriate that for the final midweek game of the year it will be a road matchup across town at the University of Incarnate Word.

Like always, there are some unique story lines. 

It was UIW who snapped UTSA’s program-setting win streak earlier this season. UTSA will bring an eight-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game.  The Cardinals can sweep the cross-town rivalry with a win.

There is a chance that UTSA is nationally ranked on Monday morning. UIW’s season ends Saturday as they are going to miss their conference tournament by not being one of the top 8 teams. So, they could possibly put more effort into playing spoiler. 

The Roadrunners can reach 38 wins on the season, which would be the third time in Coach Hallmark’s tenure to hit 38 wins. He is also the first coach in program history to win at least 37 games, three times. 

I can almost promise you though at the forefront of his mind and what he is sending down the ladder is for UTSA to play a smart, clean, and complete game. 

The opportunity for a slip up is there. It has been an emotional week with some very big games that UTSA came out on the other side of 4-0. 

I hope that they are rewarded for their continued success with a well-deserved national ranking. 

If it happens great. If it doesn’t, it’s going to be the same well gelled, exciting, and gritty team we’ve seen all season. 

It’s an exciting time to be a Roadrunner Baseball fan. 

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