The UTSA baseball team stepped
off their 2010 campaign with a pair
of wins at Roadrunner Field this past
weekend.

The Roadrunners (2-0) were supported
with quality pitching as UTSA
was able to defeat Houston Baptist 9-2
on Saturday and 7-2 on Sunday.

Saturday’s game was highlighted by
the performance of junior Matt Crocker.
The left-hander from Kingwood,
Texas pitched six innings, allowing six
hits while giving up only one run and
striking out six.

Crocker didn’t need much run support,
but the Roadrunners delivered
plenty anyway, totaling nine runseight
within the fourth, fifth, and
sixth innings. Junior second baseman
Ryan Hutson went 2-4 with two RBIs
and one home run while senior Lance
Brown also went 2-4, adding two runs
and one RBI. Casey Selsor and Ryan
Dalton would also each add home runs
to the Roadrunner offense on the first
day of the season.

The Roadrunners would find themselves
behind 2-0 going into the fifth
frame on Sunday’s game against the
Huskies. HBU lefthander Jamie Storey
pitched a clean first four innings before
giving up two runs off a Hutson
double to left. That would be the last
batter Storey would face, but relievers
Stephen Nikonchik and Chase Hernandez
would surrender five runs over
the next 3.1 innings.

UTSA took the lead in the sixth off
of a bloop-single from first baseman
Jake Wood—the ball was playable, but
HBU players had a difficult time reading
the ball as the wind was a factor in
the outfield.

UTSA added an insurance run in
the seventh inning, before blowing the
game open with a three-run eighth.
Junior Matt Aguilar hit a base-clearing
double to drive in sophomore infielder
Matthew James, sophomore outfielder
Jason Mohn and Hutson, who reached
after being hit by a pitch.

Junior transfer Mike Pierce guided
UTSA through the first four innings,
giving up seven hits and two runs.
Outfielder and pitcher Selsor would
close the door on the Huskies as he
took the mound in the fifth. Selsor,
who homered in the season opener,
pitched the final five innings, allowing
only three hits while not giving up
a run.

Starting pitchers on both days went
no deeper than the sixth inning (6.0
innings for Crocker and 4.0 innings
for Pierce); this enabled Head Coach
Sherman Corbett to rest their arms
while giving others the opportunity to
take the mound.

The first two wins were important
for Corbett and his team, particularly
because the wins came at home .

“It gets us started well,” Corbett said
of the first weekend of spring ball. “You
want to play well at home and that was
an emphasis coming into the season.”
Corbett, entering his tenth season as
head coach of UTSA, felt that the pair
of wins was a positive way to begin the
season but wasn’t ready to overlook the
hard work ahead of him and his team.

“Getting comfortable at the plate,”
was of emphasis Corbett said, “As well
as we have some pitchers that didn’t
throw [pitch in the two first games]
that will need to throw this week to be
ready for this weekend [UTSA vs. Indiana
State Fri.-Sun] because there will
be a lot more innings to play. We’ll be
counting on them. We have got a lot to
accomplish this week to get ready for
Indiana State.”

UTSA opens the four-game set
against visiting Indiana State (3-0) this
Friday at 6 p.m.