UTSA Softball Breaks NCAA Home Runs Record
Jun. 30, 2004
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The final season statistics have been released by the NCAA and it is official: the UTSA softball team has broken the NCAA single-season home runs record set by Arizona's national championship team in 2001 in leading the nation in the category for the second consecutive season.
The Southland Conference champion Roadrunners slugged 101 home runs in 54 games this spring for an average of 1.87 homers per game. That mark eclipsed the NCAA record of 1.83 (126 homers in 69 games) posted by Arizona three years ago and improves UTSA's own league standard of 1.44 (80 in 55 games) set in 2003. The 101 home runs also is the second-best season total in NCAA history, ranking just ahead of the 100 hit in 72 contests by national runner-up Arizona in 1995.
In addition to the home runs record, UTSA also matched NCAA single-game records in a 26-1 win over Texas Southern on April 8. One week after tying the home runs record of eight twice in a doubleheader sweep of Texas Southern, the Roadrunners launched a record 10 long balls out of Memorial Park in Houston and tallied 64 total bases to tie the NCAA standard set by Canisius in 1990.
UTSA led the nation in two categories this season - home runs per game (1.87) and slugging percentage (.582) - and sophomore All-South Region third baseman Jessica Rogers (Grand Prairie, Texas) was the toughest batter in the country to strike out with just four K's in 177 at-bats (once every 44.3 at-bats). UTSA's .582 slugging percentage is tied for eighth on the all-time NCAA chart.
The Roadrunners also ranked high in three other team categories, finishing fourth in scoring (6.09 runs per game), seventh in batting average (.312) and 14th in doubles per game (1.44).
Individually, senior second team All-South Region second baseman Christy Brownlee (Galena Park, Texas) hit a school and conference record 22 home runs. That total tied for third in the nation and her average of 0.41 was second behind UCLA's Caitlin Benyi's 24 and 0.43. Brownlee also ranked seventh in slugging percentage (.810) and 21st in runs batted in per game (47 RBI / 0.87). She finished with a SLC-record 55 career home runs, which places her in the top 15 on the all-time NCAA list.
Rogers ranked eighth in homers per game (17 / 0.31), 24th in RBI per game (46 / 0.85), 26th in slugging percentage (.712) and 50th in runs per game (42 / 0.78). Junior All-SLC first baseman Krystal Gibson (Spring, Texas) finished 12th in homers per game (16 / 0.30) and 46th in slugging percentage (.678) and freshman pitcher and SLC Tournament MVP Ursula Mares (Pasadena, Texas) was 17th in victories (28).
UTSA enjoyed a remarkable 2004 campaign, posting a 37-17 record, sweeping the SLC regular season and tournament titles and making the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance at the Waco Regional. The .685 winning percentage is a school record and the 37 victories are second all-time, while the 22 1/2-game improvement from a 15-40 mark in 2003 ranks in the top 10 on the all-time NCAA chart. The Roadrunners finished the season 60th in the RPI index and the SLC was 11th out of 31 conferences.
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