HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Daniel Garza worked eight innings in relief and the offense scored 11 runs on 15 hits, leading UTSA to an 11-2 win at No. 14 Southern Miss in the semifinals of the Conference USA Championships, advancing the Roadrunners to a league title game for the first time since 2013, on Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.
UTSA (38-19) pounded the top-seeded Golden Eagles to advance to the single-elimination title game on Sunday, set for 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Roadrunners will face the winner of the elimination game on Saturday night between No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech and No. 3 seeded Old Dominion.
The Roadrunners routed the Golden Eagles on their own field to eliminate Southern Miss in the semifinals. It marked the second straight win over Southern Miss for the Roadrunners, as UTSA used a ninth-inning homer to best the Golden Eagles in a back-and-forth affair on Friday morning.
UTSA improved to 3-0 in the tournament as the only unbeaten team in the field, also besting Florida Atlantic in the first round on Thursday morning. The win over Southern Miss on back-to-back days also improved UTSA to 11-4 in games against ranked foes and 9-3 in outings vs. top-25 opponents.
The Roadrunners will be seeking their fourth all-time conference tournament championship and their first in C-USA. UTSA last won the league tourney in 2013 in the Western Athletic Conference and in 2005 and 1994 in the Southland Conference.
The 38 wins for UTSA marks the most since a school-record 39 in 2009 and the third-most in program history. The 1994 club also won 39 games.
UTSA pounded out 11 runs on 15 hits with five walks, four doubles, a triple and a homer. The Roadrunners controlled the game from the jump, plating two in the second and third inning and immediately answering a two-run Southern Miss inning in the seventh with a six-run eighth and adding a run in the ninth for the 11-2 win.
Ryan Flores and Garrett Poston each tallied a career-high three hits, with Poston launching a two-run homer to open the scoring in the second inning, his second of the year. Flores went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk and over the five games vs. Southern Miss – three UTSA wins – Flores has hit .684 (13-for-19) with three homers and eight RBI, including the game-winning, ninth-inning blast on Friday morning.
UTSA also got two-hit games from Leyton Barry and Matt King, with King driving in two runs. Jonathan Tapia drove in a pair with an eighth-inning double and Shane Sirdashney notched a team-leading three RBI with a hit in the three hole. Josh Killeen, Chase Keng and Ian Bailey made it all nine Roadrunners in the lineup with hits.
The Roadrunners started Ryan Ward in his seventh start of the year. Ward worked a shutout first inning with two strikeouts and after plunking the leadoff man in the second, Garza (4-1) entered in relief.
Garza, a native of Houston, worked a career-long eight innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, walking three and striking out four. He is the second Roadrunner to work at least eight innings in relief in its first three games in the C-USA Championships, as Luke Malone worked a tourney record nine innings in relief to beat Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
Southern Miss (43-16) starter Matthew Adams (2-2) who worked 2.1 innings, allowing three hits and four runs – two earned – walking three and striking out four. After allowing a pair on – with one scoring on a sac fly – to open the third inning,
USM called on Tyler Stuart in a one-out, runner on third jam to face Killeen. Stuart allowed the run to score that was charged to Adams but settled in to work 4.1 shutout innings, allowing three hits and a walk, striking out four. Chandler Best came on in a 2-0 count in the seventh in relief of Stuart, getting a pair of outs, including the final in the seventh and one in the eighth, before allowing a pair of singles that chased him in favor of side-arming Isaiah Rhodes with two on and one out in the eighth, with both the runners scoring on Best's line. Rhodes allowed two hits and two runs, with USM also using Justin Storm, who allowed two runs on three hits, in the eighth. Aubrey Gillentine worked the ninth.
The Roadrunners struck first in the top of the second inning, getting a 2-0 lead on the second homer of the year from Poston. The blast – cranked out to rightfield – scored Killeen, who led off with a single.
The top of the third inning saw the Roadrunners extend the lead. Tapia led off with a walk and Barry singled into centerfield with the ball misplayed in centerfield to allow both runners to move into scoring position. Shane Sirdashney followed with a sacrifice fly to rightfield, allowing Tapia to score and Barry to move to third with one out. Killeen laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Barry from third, pushing UTSA's lead to 4-0.
The Golden Eagles plated two in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 4-2. Danny Lynch and Will McGillis led off with singles and Christian Paetow broke the seal for USM with a single into centerfield to score Lynch. After a walk to Blake Johnson loaded the bases, Gabe Montenegro scored McGillis with a fielder's choice that came on a bouncing ball up the middle, bouncing off the glove of Garza and to Barry, who sidearm flung it to Matt King covering second base. Garza then induced a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play- that saw Flores pick the ball out of the turf – to escape the jam and snuff a USM rally, keeping UTSA up by a pair.
UTSA plated six in the top of the eighth, taking the lead to 10-2. Bailey reached on a one-out walk and Poston pulled his third hit of the game through the right side to put a pair on. After a pitching change to match up with King, the C-USA All-Freshman Team selection drilled an RBI single inside the line in leftfield. Tapia then painted a two-run double down the leftfield line, scoring Poston and King. After a Barry double, Sirdashney drilled an opposite-field, two-run triple down the rightfield line, scoring Tapia and Barry for a seven-run lead. Flores followed with a single into the gap, scoring Sirdashney.
The lead was pushed to 11-2 in the ninth as King doubled down the leftfield line, scoring Keng, who led off with a single.
Saturday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: Garrett Poston (2)
USM: N/A
WP – Daniel Garza (4-1): 8.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Matt Adams (2-2): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up Next
UTSA returns to Pete Taylor Park tomorrow, May 29, to face the winner of ODU/La Tech in the Conference USA Championship game. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
GAME NOTES: UTSA is 38-19 and is 22-11 against conference foes … UTSA head coach Pat Hallmark is 70-53 in his third year at UTSA and is 136-100 in his five-year career … In Hallmark's coaching career, he is 100-6 when leading after eight innings, 97-9 when leading after seven and 109-9 when leading after six … UTSA is 54-3 when staked to a sixth inning lead under Hallmark, 45-3 when leading after seven and 48-2 when leading after eight … UTSA is 26-6 in 2022 when scoring first and 45-21 under Hallmark … UTSA is 11-4 against ranked teams and 9-3 against top-25 foes in 2022 … Southern Miss leads the all-time series 20-10, including a 9-4 mark in games played in Hattiesburg … The Golden Eagles are 2-3 against UTSA in 2022 … UTSA leads the series 4-3 in games played in the C-USA Tournament … UTSA advanced to its first conference tournament final since 2013 … UTSA is 11-12 all-time in the C-USA Tournament and are 28-34 all-time in league tournaments … UTSA is 16-13 in road games in 2022 … UTSA is 29-11 vs. right-handed starting pitchers in 2022 … UTSA has a program record 514 strikeouts in 2022 … UTSA has scored 459 runs in 2022, the third-most in program history … UTSA has 123 doubles in 2022, the fifth-most in program history … UTSA has 67 homers, the third-most in school history and the most since 2010 … UTSA has 424 RBI in 2022, setting a new program record … UTSA has 259 walks in 2022, the fourth most in program history … Sophomore RHP Ryan Ward made his 14th appearance and his seventh start … Ward has appeared in 21 games with nine starts in his career .. UTSA is 5-2 in Ward's starts in 2022 … Senior 3B Jonathan Tapia played in his 211th career game, ranking seventh on the UTSA list … Tapia has reached base safely in 49 of 55 starts on the year and 153 of 177 starts in his career … Tapia has scored 150 runs in his career, ranking eighth in program history … Tapia scored his 58th run of the year, moving into a tie with Bryan Arias for eighth in single-season history … Tapia has a five-game hitting streak … Tapia doubled for the 21st time in 2022 and the 38th time in his career … Tapia ranks tied for sixth in single-season doubles in program history … It's the most doubles in a season for a Roadrunner since Kevin Markham in 2017 … Tapia has a career-high 49 RBI in 2022 … Senior 1B Ryan Flores has reached base safely in 48 of 52 starts on the year … Flores has 18 multi-hit games in 2022 … Flores tied his career high with three hits, the seventh time in 2022 and the first since going 3-for-4 at USM on May 15 … In his five games against top-15 Southern Miss in 2022, Flores is 13-for-19 with three homers and eight RBI … R-Sophomore C Josh Killeen has reached base safely in 17 straight games, a team high … Killeen has reached base safely in 25 of 28 starts on the year and in 31 of 37 career starts … Killeen laid down his third sac bunt of the year, using it to score a run in the third … Sophomore DH Garrett Poston hit his second career homer and second of 2022 … Poston has reached base safely in 29 of 32 games in 2022 and in 29 of 33 in his career … Poston has six multi-RBI games in 2022 … Poston has eight multi-hit games on the year … Poston tied his career high with three hits, done twice before and most recently at No. 9 Texas State on April 19 … Sophomore RHP Daniel Garza worked in his 13th game of the year and the 26th of his career … Garza has inherited 13 runners on the year, allowing five to score … Garza worked a career-long eight innings, all in relief … Junior 2B Leyton Barry has reached base safely in 45 of 52 starts in 2022 and in 80 of 97 career starts … Barry has 24 multi-hit games in 2022 and 48 in his career … Barry has 14 doubles in 2022 and 23 in his career … Senior LF Ian Bailey made his team-leading 57th consecutive start … Bailey doubled for the 16th time in 2022 and the 20th time in his career … Bailey has reached base safely in 49 of 57 starts in 2022 and in 75 of 85 in his career … Junior CF Shane Sirdashney tripled for the first time in 2022 and the second time in his career … Sirdashney has reached base safely in 38 of 43 starts in 2022 and in 73 of 89 in his career … Senior RF Chase Keng has reached base safely in 49 of 54 starts on the year and 120 of 147 starts in his career … Freshman SS Matt King has reached base safely in 34 of his 42 starts … King doubled for the 12th time.
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