The unranked UTSA Roadrunners are moving on in the NCAA baseball tournament after knocking off the No. 2-seeded Texas Longhorns 7-4 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in the Austin Regional on June 1.
UTSA will play in its first NCAA baseball super regional. The victory led to coach Pat Hallmark leaping into the arms of pitcher Conor Myles after the game as the team began to celebrate.
Norris McClure’s two-run home run in the first inning provided the Roadrunners with an early lead and set the pace for the 7-4 victory over the in-state rival.
“That was one of the greatest games in baseball that I had ever been a part of,” McClure said on the ESPN broadcast after the game. “We knew we had talent and just had to stay where our feet were.”
UTSA had seven different players score a run in the game. Ty Hodge was responsible for three of those RBIs on two hits. Pitcher Gunnar Brown allowed six hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings pitched against the Longhorns.
Texas was the second top-two school to get eliminated in its home regional after Wright State beat No. 1 seed Vanderbilt 5-4 on Sunday.
Texas out-hit UTSA 9-8 in the game, including two from Max Belyeu and Rylan Galvan. Belyeu had a two-run home run in the top of the ninth that brought in Galvan and helped the Longhorns cut into the lead, 7-4. As it turns out, those were the last runs of the season for the Longhorns.
The Roadrunners’ win wasn’t a fluke, either. Hallmark’s team won both of the teams’ two prior meetings this season: 8-7 in 12 innings on March 18 and 9-7 on May 31. The latter of those sent Texas to the loser’s bracket in the Austin Regional on June 1.
While the Roadrunners entered the game after having the afternoon off, the Longhorns eliminated Kansas State with a 15-8 win before fighting to keep their season alive.