Roadrunners to wrap up home slate with No. 14 Rice this weekend

SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will conclude the home portion of its schedule with a three-game series this weekend against No. 14 Rice.

A series win last weekend at Middle Tennessee has UTSA (30-19, 14-10) positioned in a tie for fourth place in the Conference USA standings with six league games remaining. The C-USA Tournament will take place from May 21-24 in Hattiesburg, Miss.

UTSA will be looking for its second-ever win against Rice and first since the 1994 season. The Owls (32-15, 18-6 C-USA) own an 11-1 edge in the all-time series and they have won the past nine. Rice took last season’s contest, 11-5, on March 20 at Reckling Park.

Mike Warren leads C-USA with 42 RBIs and John Welborn currently sits atop the league with 45 runs scored. The Roadrunners are 9-2 in series openers this season and 6-1 in home series openers.

Rice enters the weekend series with a two-game lead over second-place UAB for the regular season crown. The Owls have the second-ranked offense and pitching staff in the circuit, trailing only FIU in both categories. The team calling card may lie on defense, as the defending C-USA Champions lead the league with a .980 fielding percentage.

Four Owls have averages north of .300 with John Clay Reeves leading the way with a .341 mark. Shane Hoelscher boasts a team-high 16 doubles, while Skyler Ewing has a squad-best 39 RBIs.

Click here for complete series notes.