SAN ANTONIO — Extra base hits proved to be the biggest hurdle for the UTSA Roadrunners (2-7) on Saturday at Roadrunner field, as New Mexico State (4-4) and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi tacked on late runs to hold off the Roadrunners in a pair of close losses during the second day of the I-35 Tournament presented by Courtyard Marriott at The Rim.
Game One: New Mexico State
UTSA was riding the rush of consecutive wins in Friday's home opener, but couldn't reproduce the heavy-handed offense that delivered those victories against the Aggies. However, it was the Roadrunners that struck first on Saturday, as Erykah Guerrero drove a single up the middle in the third to score both Camryn Robillard and Kylie Forney on the play.
With runs finally on the board, New Mexico State reclaimed one on Kendal Lunar's fourth-inning home run, lifted to left field to trim the game to 2-1 in UTSA's favor. Two innings later, the Aggies knotted things up on Jillian Taylor's home run to right.
Aggies first baseman Kayla Bowen all but sealed the game for New Mexico State with a two-run homer deep to left center to push ahead 4-2 in the seventh. Reliever Aydenne Brown (2-1) secured three straight outs to earn the win after pitching 6.0 innings with five hits, two runs and 11 strikeouts recorded.
In the circle for UTSA, Jamie Gilbert (1-2) was assigned the loss after pitching the seventh.
Guerrero's two RBI on 1-for-2 batting led six Roadrunners with hits.
Game Two: Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Largely a pitcher's duel until the final two frames, the Islanders grabbed a minor advantage early, Quinn De Avila put out a second-inning home run.
In the meantime, starters Reagan Smith and Primrose Aholelei otherwise kept the sheet clean. The Islanders carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth before extending out to two runs courtesy of a Sydney Hoyt home run.
Freshman right fielder Lilly Hood countered with her first career long ball, deep into right center to get the Roadrunners on the board. However, another RBI for Hoyt and a three-run Gabriella Torres home run created a big mountain for UTSA to climb in the home half.
Following the path of the previous night's walk-off victory, UTSA went to work on the five-run deficit, loading up the bases with a pair of singles and one runner reaching on an error. Hood jump-started the rally by coaxing out a walk to add to her quickly-growing RBI total and Marena Estell followed with a two-run double to the right center fence. Hood got caught up stretching out for a third run, notching another out for the Islanders, who were clinging to a two-run advantage.
Back-to-back walks reloaded the bases and forced the Islanders to bring up reliever Ariella Saenz. With the tie run on first, catcher Erykah Guerrero smoked a line drive down the first baseline, but Hoyt snatched the ball and saved TAMU-CC from a potential walk-off loss and end the night.
For her efforts, Saenz picked up her first save, to go with Aholelei's (4-2) 6.2-inning win. The loss went to Smith, who tossed 6.0 innings before making her exit following a comebacker deflection. Smith allowed just two earned runs and six hits, striking out three.
Robillard went 2-for-3 to lead the Roadrunners at the plate, while Kat Ibarra was 2-for-4 with one run scored. Hood and Estell each logged two RBI.
UTSA closes the I-35 Tournament on Sunday at Roadrunner Field on a 12:30 p.m. rematch with Lamar.
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