HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The UTSA Roadrunners (0-3) dropped a pair of tight games in the second day of competition at the Bearkat Classic on Friday. Seeing its offense more limited than in the 11-hit opener at Sam Houston, UTSA fell in neutral site matchups against Delaware 1-0), 6-1, and Northwestern State (1-0), 3-1, at the Bearkat Softball Complex.
Game One: Delaware
Opening up the second day of competition at the Bearkat Classic, UTSA squared off with Delaware in the inaugural series meeting. For the second straight game to open the season, the Roadrunners scored first, scored in the first inning and it was Lilly Hood to notch one on the board. The freshman right fielder capitalized on Kat Ibarra's leadoff walk with an RBI fielder's choice to give UTSA an early 1-0 edge.
The Roadrunners held onto that advantage through 10 batters before Kiara Mills broke up the shutout with a 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom of the third, pushing Delaware on top 2-1 for an advantage the Blue Hens would never surrender.
UTSA's defense produced a quick 1-2-3 inning the next time around, but the fifth inning proved to be a game-changer. The Blue Hens earned a pair of walks and a single to set the table for Morgan Olynyk's sacrifice fly, ahead of Katie Scheivert's two-run single to grow the UD lead out to 5-1. Delaware tacked on their sixth and final run in the sixth on an Emily Blum bunt.
Contrary to the big-hitting opening night for the Roadrunners against host Sam Houston, Emily Winburn (1-0) collected the win by combining with Taylor Wroten to limit UTSA to just two hits – both going to rookie Madison Lenton in her first start in center field. For UTSA in the circle, Reagan Smith (0-1) took the loss in her debut after tossing 1.1 innings.
Game Two: Northwestern State
Facing Northwestern State in the second outing of the day, the first three innings were locked in a pitcher's duel between junior Jamie Gilbert and NSU's Maggie Darr. It was the Lady Demons who broke the deadlock first, with Laney Roos converting on a pair of third-inning singles via an RBI shot up the middle for the 1-0 lead.
Across the next two frames, NSU expanded its leads with an RBI in each inning.
The UTSA offense finally started to make a move as the game wound down. The Roadrunners loaded the bases in the sixth, but Darr worked out of danger and kept the board clean before making her exit in the seventh. The Roadrunners cut into the lead in the final frame, using singles by freshmen Sophie Campbell and Lenton to set the table for a Ciarra Mata RBI fielder's choice. The rally was cut short with the tying run aboard, closing in a 3-1 UTSA loss.
Building up momentum from a commanding first two innings, Darr (1-0) finished with the win on 6.0 innings with three hits and one run, striking out nine. Gilbert (0-1) tossed a complete game of 6.0 innings for UTSA, allowing seven hits and three runs.
The Roadrunners close out play at the Bearkat Classic on Saturday, scheduled for a rematch with Delaware at 10:00 a.m., followed by South Dakota State at 3:00 p.m at the Bearkat Softball Complex.
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