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Baseball

Baseball unveils 2018 schedule on Friday

SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA baseball team unveiled its 2018 schedule on Friday morning and the slate features 31 games at Roadrunner Field and 10 games against NCAA Championship qualifiers from last season.

The Roadrunners, who posted a 29-28 overall record and earned four victories over ranked opponents a year ago, will host 2017 NCAA Regional foes Rice and Texas Tech, while also traveling to match up with Southern Miss and Texas.

"When you reside in San Antonio, the city and climate attract good games early in the season. The 2018 schedule is no different," head coach Jason Marshall said. "Columbia, McNeese State and San Francisco are all good programs that will provide great early season tests, and Texas Tech will be great to have on campus for our UTSA fans and all fans of college baseball."

UTSA will open its campaign at home with a trio of games against San Francisco (Feb. 16-18). The Birds will play a mid-week tilt at Abilene Christian on Feb. 20, before returning home to host the Red Raiders in a three-game series Feb. 23-25. UTSA will close out the month with a trip up to Austin to face Texas on Feb. 27.

The Roadrunners' first non-conference series will be played March 2-4 against former Southland Conference foe McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. Two days later, the squad will travel to play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before returning to the Alamo City to host Columbia (March 9-11) in a four-game set. UTSA returns to the road to face I-35 rival Texas State on March 13 and will open Conference USA action at defending regular-season champion Southern Miss (March 16-18) in Hattiesburg, Miss. 

Following the conference-opening contests, the Birds will begin a four-game home stand on March 20 in the second of three meetings with the Bobcats. Marshall also comes to town for a league series March 23-25. The Roadrunners will finish off the month of March on the road with stops at Houston Baptist (March 27) and WKU (March 29-31).

UTSA will start the next month with a quick visit to Texas State for the final time on April 3. The Roadrunners then will open a five-game home stand against Louisiana Tech (April 6-8), Stephen F. Austin on April 10 and Prairie View A&M a day later. A flight to Boca Raton, Fla., is on the ledger for a three-game conference set against Florida Atlantic.

The Birds will again host a five-game home stand following the trip to the Sunshine State.

The Islanders come to San Antonio for a return trip on April 17 before FIU is in town April 20-22. The Roadrunners will wrap up the stay at home against cross-town foe Incarnate Word two days later.

UTSA will make a road trip to Middle Tennessee (April 27-29) before hosting Rice (May 4-6), which won the league tournament a year ago. The final road swing for the squad is May 11-13, as the Roadrunners will travel to Norfolk, Va., to take on Old Dominion. The Birds will be back in town on May 15 to face Abilene Christian and will wrap up the regular season against Charlotte May 17-19.

The Conference USA Championship is scheduled to return to MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss., May 24-28. The 2018 NCAA Championship is scheduled to begin on June 1 with regional play, while the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., is slated from June 16-27 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

SCHEDULE NOTES
• UTSA will play a 55-game schedule, including 31 at home
• The Roadrunners will play 37 games inside the state of Texas
• UTSA will play 18 games outside of the Lone Star State
• The Birds will visit Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia during the season
• Texas Tech will make its first-ever trip to Roadrunner Field Feb. 23-25

JASON MARSHALL ON THE CONFERENCE USA PORTION OF THE SCHEDULE…
"The backbone of a great schedule always begins with your conference opponents. Being in one of the top-6 RPI baseball conferences in college baseball is a blessing and a challenge. There's not a weekend that you can expect to be less than your best and come away with wins. Knowing most years our conference will produce three or four NCAA Regional teams speaks to the quality of C-USA. The bottom line is that you better have a tough-minded and talented ball club to compete in the top half of C-USA because the balance from one to 12 in the league is very good.

"Obviously in the league there's a ton of respect given to certain programs that year in and year out put a good team on the field. Last year, Southern Miss was just at a different level for the bulk of 2017, earning a regional host spot, and Rice rode a late-season hot streak all the way to a tournament title. So, it's not a stretch to say these two programs have set the bar high for the rest of C-USA. Florida Atlantic and Old Dominion are always talented and have made regional appearances in the recent past. Beyond that it doesn't stop. Good coaches and players are in every city in the league."

JASON MARSHALL ON THE NON-CONFERENCE PORTION OF THE SCHEDULE…
"When you reside in San Antonio, the city and climate attract good games early in the season. The 2018 schedule is no different. Columbia, McNeese State and San Francisco are all good programs that will provide great early season tests, and Texas Tech will be great to have on campus for our UTSA fans and all fans of college baseball.

"The midweek games during the course of your season can make or break any chance at an at-large berth in the NCAA. Having pitching depth and strike throwers on a Tuesday can sometimes be the difference in a mediocre season or a great season. Drive three hours from San Antonio in almost any direction and you are going to find good college baseball. It's exciting and fun to see the growth of college baseball in Texas. This has always been a baseball hot-bed, but now you are seeing many different conferences represented and schools emphasizing salaries, facilities and wanting to put their best foot forward on the NCAA level. If you can win in the state of Texas, you can win anywhere!

"Hope springs eternal this time of year for all teams and there's nothing better than counting down the days until the first pitch of a new year. I can't wait to see this team define itself. Consistent teams are often some of the best teams. Teams able to reset and repeat effort and execution in spite of the opponent or what the mountain standing in front of them might be. Teams that keep working will improve and that 'process' focus needs to identifiable in the Roadrunners this spring."

SOCIAL MEDIA
UTSA fans can follow the Roadrunners this season on social media. The team will provide in-game updates and breaking news on its Twitter account (@UTSABSB), while also engaging with fans on Facebook (Facebook.com/UTSABSB).

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