UTSA Claims Second Consecutive Southland Baseball Regular Season Title
SAN ANTONIO, Texas ? Junior left fielder Aaron Powell drove home senior first baseman Trent Lockwood with the go-ahead run in the sixth and junior southpaw Kris Ruepke tossed eight innings for the fourth time in his last five starts to lead UTSA a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field and its second consecutive Southland Conference Regular Season Championship.
Coupled with Lamar's 6-3 loss at Northwestern State earlier in the day, the Birds (37-14, 21-6 SLC) were able to post league's first back-to-back titles in four years (Lamar, 2003-04) and they also tied the school record with their 37th win of the season.
"I am so happy for these guys," eighth-year head coach Sherman Corbett said after the victory. "They not only worked hard this weekend, but they have worked so hard all year long to get to this point. Nicholls really battled us this weekend, but this group took care of business and we got some help from Northwestern State. I was thrilled that we were able to do this for our seven seniors. It nice to know we are going into the final week of the regular season with the championship and, hopefully, we can continue to gain momentum as we get closer to the conference tournament."
With the contest tied at two in sixth, Lockwood led off the inning with his second double of the game. Powell then took Justin Breaux's 2-1 pitch up the middle and Lockwood just slid under the tag of catcher Zac Bone to give UTSA a 3-2 lead. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Rummel followed with a sacrifice fly to center three batters later to push the advantage to two.
The Roadrunners added an insurance run on two hits and a pair of Colonels errors in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-2.
Ruepke (6-2), who gave up just two runs on seven hits and won his fifth straight decision, and sophomore closer Zach Calhoon made sure the lead held up. UTSA's starter blanked Nicholls State in the seventh and eighth before handing the ball over to the conference's leading save man in the ninth.
Calhoon gave up a lead-off single to Walt Jones to start the inning and he then walked pinch hitter Patrick Thompson with two down. However, the Spring native coaxed a pop up off the bat of Anthony Wray and, after Lockwood made a sliding catch in front of the plate, the celebration was on. It was Calhoon's second save of the weekend and 12th of the season.
Ruepke, who has not lost since March 17 against No. 10 Texas, now is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.16 ERA, two complete games and a shutout since entering the weekend rotation a month ago.
"We got another consistent outing from Kris and I thought he threw outstanding today," Corbett said. "He is continuing to get better every week and, even when he makes a bad pitch or doesn't have his best stuff, you know he's going to give you a good, competitive effort every time he's on the mound. He goes out there every Sunday expecting to succeed and get the job done."
UTSA scored first for the eighth contest in a row when they plated a pair in the fourth. Junior center fielder Michael Rockett led off with a single to left and came home one batter later on Lockwood's double down the right-field line. Powell then hit a grounder to Jordy Toups, but Colonels first baseman Kevin Persick dropped the throw and that allowed Lockwood to score all the way from second base.
Nicholls State (9-42, 4-23 SLC) tied the game at two in the sixth on four two-out hits.
Lockwood finished up a productive weekend by going 2-for-4 with his 20th and 21st two-baggers of the year to go along with his school-record 70th RBI. The Groesbeck native went 5-for-11 (.545) with three doubles, a pair of homers and eight RBIs in the series. Powell, meanwhile, added a pair of hits and scored two times.
UTSA swept its fifth SLC foe of the year and now has recorded 10 whitewashings the past two seasons. The Roadrunners also extended their winning streak at the Bird Bath to nine games (17 of 18 overall).
Breaux (1-6) surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits in three innings and was saddled with the loss. Nicholls State starter John Beauchamp, making just his second start of the year, allowed just a pair of runs on three hits in his five frames of work.
The Colonels had base runners in every inning but stranded a dozen on the afternoon.
Prior to the game, UTSA's seven member senior class ? Phillip Allen, Bradley Chovanec, Zach Etheredge, Lockwood, Mark Ruffin, Steven Vasquez and Josh Wilson ? were honored for their contributions to the program.
The Roadrunners are back in action when they host Houston (30-21) in a 6 p.m. contest on Tuesday. UTSA defeated the Cougars in 12 innings, 11-9, on April 30.