SAN ANTONIO – Winners of five of seven games to open the year, UTSA baseball will host No. 9 TCU in a midweek test, slated for 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Roadrunner Field. The game will be broadcast live on CUSA TV.
UTSA (5-2) will face its first top-10 opponent of the 2021 season as the Horned Frogs come into South Texas for a five-game stretch. TCU (8-3) will face Texas State in San Marcos on Tuesday night, after playing three games in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic, hosted over the weekend by the Houston Astros. TCU won two of three, including a Saturday win over Texas State, before falling in extra innings vs. Sam Houston.
The Roadrunners are coming into the matchup having posted three wins in a four-game series with Sun Belt power UT Arlington over the weekend. UTSA posted a 13-1 win on Friday, a 3-0 win in a seven-inning doubleheader opener on Saturday, before falling 2-1 in the nightcap. UTSA posted a 16-1 win in the series finale.
This came a weekend after UTSA posted a series win at Sam Houston, earning wins in the final two games to claim the series vs. the Southland Conference favorites.
On Monday, UTSA senior righty Shane Daughety was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week after throwing the seven-inning shutout in the 3-0 win on Saturday. Daughety fanned a career-best nine and allowed only five singles, retiring 21 of the 25 hitters he faced in the shutout.
UTSA has hit .347 through the first seven games of the year, with eight homers, 15 doubles, 63 runs scored and a .422 on-base percentage. Opponents are hitting just .226 against the Roadrunners, who have posted a 2.40 team ERA in 60 innings, striking out 59.
Junior shortstop Joshua Lamb leads the UTSA offense with a .423 average, with five doubles, one homer and nine RBI. Griffin Paxton, who has made the first seven starts at first base, has hit .393 with a homer and nine RBI, with outfielder Ian Bailey adding nine RBI on two homers and a .375 average.
In relief, UTSA has used Hunter Mason (1-1, 3.52 ERA) in a team-leading three games. Zachary Griggs (0-0, 0.00 ERA), Daniel Garza (0-0, 0.00 ERA), John Chomko (0-0, 1.93 ERA) and Jay Ward (0-0, 0.00 ERA) have each appeared in multiple games, with Chomko making one start.
TCU leads the all-time series with UTSA, 9-3, having claimed the only meeting in San Antonio, 7-3 in 2021. UTSA's last wins over the Horned Frogs came in a three-game series over two days in 1994 to open the season, a UTSA sweep.
TCU has hit .280 as a team through 11 games, with 24 doubles, six triples, eight homers and 91 runs scored, stealing 12 of 15 bases. On the mound, TCU has a 2.62 team ERA with 127 strikeouts and just 34 walks in 96.1 innings.
Phillip Sikes leads the team with a .419 average, driving in a club-best 15 RBI. Brayden Taylor and Hunter Wolfe have each cranked two homers, with Zach Humphreys belting three. In relief, Haylen Green (1-0, 3.65 ERA) has appeared in a team-leading five games, with River Ridings (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and Drew Hill (1-0, 1.29 ERA) each working in at least three games in relief.
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