·
Box
score
 |
| Freshman Ryan
Dalton has hit a UTSA single-season freshman record 12
home runs this
spring. |
BEAUMONT
— UTSA exploded for 10 runs in the first three innings and the
Roadrunners ended a season-long six-game losing streak with a
14-4 rout at Lamar on Sunday.
UTSA (14-23, 5-16 SLC),
which tied a season-high with 20 hits and posted its
highest-scoring game in more than three weeks, jumped all over
Cardinals starter Jonathan Dziedzic for five runs in the first
and they tacked on four more in the following frame to chase
the southpaw from the contest after he recorded just four
outs.
The Birds went on to score single runs in the
third and fifth and three more in the ninth to polish off the
victory.
Leading the early offensive onslaught was
freshman Ryan Dalton, who added to his team-leading home run
total with a two-run shot in the opening stanza and a
three-run bomb in the second. Dalton drove home a career-best
six on the day and now has 12 homers this spring, which is a
new UTSA freshman single-season record. The Sugar Land native
finished the weekend series 7-for-12 (.583) with a triple,
three long balls and eight RBIs.
Meanwhile, junior
Tyler Carpenter took care of extending his hitting streak to a
career-long 18 games early, as he lined an 0-2 pitch from
Harrington up the middle to lead off the contest. Carpenter
finished the day 3-for-6, which was his 10th multi-hit game
during the streak (fifth three-hit performance), and he is
hitting .407 (33-for-81) since it began on March
26.
Junior righty Taylor Walton (4-1) gave UTSA a gutsy
performance in just his second start of the season.
The
Midland native allowed three runs on seven hits, walked two
and struck out a pair in his six-plus innings of work. Coming
back on only one day of rest after throwing 36 pitches in 1.2
relief panels during Friday's 4-2 setback, he retired 12 of 15
batters during one stretch that spanned the third through
sixth stanzas.
Junior right-handed closer Kevin Clarke,
who allowed a run on two hits in the ninth, retired the first
seven hitters he faced and nine of 11 overall over the final
three innings for his fourth save of the season (first since
March 17), as the Cardinals (26-16, 11-10 SLC) saw their
winning streak come to an end at seven games.
Dziedzic
(2-3) was charged with the loss after giving up the Birds'
first eight runs on a half dozen hits and two walks in 1.1
panels.
Senior Lance Brown and junior Ryan Hutson both
tied their career highs with four hits apiece, as the first
six hitters in the UTSA lineup recorded multiple hits for the
second consecutive day. The Roadrunners also tied their season
high with five round-trippers for the second game in a row, as
Hutson, senior Ryan Rummel and freshman Daniel Rockett joined
Dalton in the home run derby. UTSA leads the Southland
Conference with 57 taters this spring.
Pablo Salinas
went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Wade Mathis added two
hits, including a lead-off homer in the second, to lead Lamar
at the plate.
The Birds continues their season-long
nine-game road trip on Tuesday night when they travel to
Austin to face No. 2 Texas (34-7), which has won 16
consecutive games. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at UFCU
Disch-Falk Field and the two teams, who did not meet for the
first time in 16 years last spring, have split their last four
meetings.