SAN ANTONIO — The No. 9 seeded UTSA softball team is set to face No. 4 seed and host school Wichita State in the opening round of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Softball Championships on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside Wilkins Stadium.
The Roadrunners (15-41, 5-22 The American) and the Shockers (25-21, 16-11 The American) are set to duel, with WSU getting the better of UTSA in a trio of run-rule victories earlier in the season.
UTSA picked up a lone victory across a three-game series against South Florida last time out, with an 8-5 extra-innings win coming via a senior Taylor Jensen walk-off home run.
Senior Erykah Guerrero joined Jensen in smashing a home run on the afternoon, each recording three RBIs, while redshirt freshman Madi Hays and junior Camryn Robillard also plated runs.
Junior Jaylen Prichard put together a solid weekend for the Roadrunners, going 5-for-11 with an RBI, two walks, and two runs scored, while senior Jamie Gilbert impressed in the circle.
In the first game of the series against USF, Gilbert was stellar, tossing a marathon 10.1-inning outing that represents the second-longest single-game appearance in program history.
Jensen was UTSA's lone representative on the 2024 Softball All-Conference and Major Awards, collecting first-team honors, while the Shockers CC Wong was named The American's Player of the Year. Taylor Sedlacek and Addison Barnard joined Wong on the first team, and Chloe Barber cracked the all-rookie team.
WSU wrapped up the regular season with four straight wins, including a sweep over Memphis that propelled them into fourth on the league leaderboard.
Wong has played a significant role in their success, leading The American in batting average at .476, which ranks second in the NCAA. She's also third nationally in on-base percentage at .571, and her .888 slugging percentage is ninth. Also featuring in the national rankings, Barber is second, logging 11.1 K/7, and Barnard is 15th with 18 home runs on the season.
Barber has been the squad's ace, going 9-5 in the circle with a 2.99 ERA, while Alex Aguilar and Lauren Howell join her in posting winning records on the season.
Keep up with UTSA Softball all season long on goutsa.com, and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSASB, X (Twitter) @UTSASoftball, and on Instagram @utsasoftball.
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