UTSA Opens Southland Baseball Tournament with 3-2 Win in 10 Innings
SAN MARCOS, Texas - UTSA centerfielder Daniel Rockett's sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning lifted the sixth-seeded Roadrunners to a 3-2 victory over No. 3 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening game of the 2011 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark.
Roadrunner catcher Tyler Carpenter led off the top of the 10th inning with a double down the left-field line and went to third on a bunt by Ryan Dalton, who was attempting a sacrifice. The throw to first by Islanders pitcher Phillip Garcia was not in time, putting runners at the corners with no one out. After a line out to short by Matthew James, Rockett delivered the game-winning sac fly.
Rockett finished 1-for-3 in the game and drove in two of the three UTSA (27-30) runs. R.J. Perucki and Ryan Dalton each went 2-for-5 as each team totaled 11 hits. A&M-Corpus Christi (34-23) got two hits each from Jeramie Marek, Matt Holland and Santiago Ruiz.
The Islanders scored first, plating two runs in the bottom of the third thanks to back-to-back singles by Weston Montgomery and Trey Hernandez.
That lead was short lived as UTSA scratched two runs of its own on the board in the top of the fourth. Rockett singled to drive in James, who led off the inning with a double. A single by Jason Mohn moved Rockett to second. He scored on a shot up the middle by Jake Wood to tie the game.
UTSA starting pitcher Casey Selsor tried to help his cause when he picked up a bat and led off the ninth inning with a double down the left-field line. He was stranded at third. He retook the mound in the bottom of the ninth and got the first two batters of the inning but gave up his 10th hit of the game to end his day. Kevin Clarke ended up getting the win for the Roadrunners, allowing one hit in 1.1 scoreless innings to improve to 3-4 on the year.
Phillip Garcia took the loss for the Islanders, which was his first defeat in three decisions this season.
UTSA advances to play the winner between No. 2 Stephen F. Austin and No. 7 Lamar Thursday at 4 p.m. A&M-Corpus Christi will face the loser of SFA vs. Lamar game Thursday at 9 a.m.
Game One Quotes:
UTSA Coach Sherman Corbett
On pitcher Casey Selsor
"He was consistent. More than anything else, it was grit and determination. He didn't have his best stuff, but he battled and really competed and stayed in the ballgame. He got better as the game went on, and just really gutted it out for us and kept us in the ballgame."
"When they scored, they had a chance to have a really big inning, and we shut it down. Then we came back and had the chance for a big inning and they shut us down, and you could tell how the game was going to play out; it was going to be a close game, and the winner was going to be who made the most of their opportunities. We let one slip away in the ninth, and then got one in the tenth, and fortunately that was enough to win the ballgame."
On who will start tomorrow
"Taylor Walton will start tomorrow. He's been consistently in our rotation all year."
On getting the first win
"It's huge to get the first win. It puts you in a better seeding than having to fight from the loser's bracket from the beginning. Obviously the first one is big. We have a little chance to rest before our 4:00 game tomorrow afternoon, so we'll take that, and hopefully continue to play at 4 until the championship game."
Casey Selsor, UTSA starting pitcher
On battling through the game today
"I had to pitch today. You can't have your stuff every day, and I knew I didn't have it from the bullpen on, but we did a good enough job battling and they played great defense behind me today."
On getting the first win-- "It definitely sets us up pretty, and you want to come in and sweep, and win four in a row. That's what we're set up to do, so we just have to keep coming in and winning games."
On UTSA's resiliency
"It's a testament to our offense, and refusing to lose, and battling every at-bat. We feel like no matter what, we have a chance, and that's what we showed today."
On driving in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th
"I missed the first two bunts, so I had a little pressure on me, but I stayed relaxed, stayed within myself, and just got the bat on the ball."
"We really didn't feel pressure when we were down 2-0. We just felt like it was a 0-0 ballgame, and we just stayed within ourselves."
On getting the first win
"It feels great to get the first win. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders since we didn't make the conference tournament last year."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Coach Scott Malone
On leaving runners in scoring position
"I think it was Casey Selsor. That is the one thing we had been talking about for two days. That was my biggest fear. He's thrown against us well in the past. He's as good as any left-handed pitcher in the league. We got to him early and get two-run lead and we're thinking 'hey we'll start pushing this thing,' and their hitters come right back at us."