March 7, 2004
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Texas-San Antonio pushed across runs in seven innings and held off a Notre Dame rally by erupting for six runs in the ninth, as the Roadrunners handed the seventh-ranked Irish their first loss of the season in a 17-9 game at Wolff Stadium.
Notre Dame (7-1) and UTSA (7-5) now both are 1-1 after two days of action in the Alamo City Irish Baseball Classic, with Penn State (1-0 in tournament) set to meet Southern Illinois (0-1) on Sunday night. The round-robin concludes on Monday, with Notre Dame facing Penn State in the 1:30 CST game. Tuesday’s action then features a noon consolation game and the 4:00 p.m. title game (those matchups will be determined after Monday’s games).
Freshman righthander Steven Vasquez (2-1) picked up the win despite allowing five runs on five hits and five walks in five innings of work. Sophomore lefthander Tom Thornton (1-1) took the loss after being touched for eight runs (six earned) on eight hits and three walks in 4.1 innings of work.
Notre Dame’s starting infielders and outfielders had totaled just one error in the first seven games but the Irish had their struggles in the field with six errors vs. UTSA.
The Roadrunners held an 8-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th but the Irish jumped back into the game when junior first baseman Matt Edwards went with the wind for a three-run, opposite-field shot down the rightfield line. Edwards ended up leading the Irish 13-hit attack with a 3-for-4, 4-RBI day.
The local team kept scoring and owned an 11-6 edge heading into the bottom of the 7th. The Irish again cut into the deficit by plating two runs in the 7th and scoring again in the 8th for an 11-9 game.
Steve Sollmann led off the 7th with a single that led to a close out at first but Edwards started a two-out rally with a double to the left-center gap. Josh Ruffin then hit Javi Sanchez with the next pitch, Steve Andres followed with and RBI single through the right side and Ruffin added another first-pitch HBP vs. Cody Rizzo. A fielding error then allowed Sanchez to score an unearned run for an 11-8 game.
Sollmann scored three times despite batting 0-for-3, reaching on a walk and two hit-by-pitch.
Texas-San Antonio 1-0-2 3-2-2 1-0-6 – 17 18 1
Notre Dame 1-0-1 0-3-1 2-1-0 – 9 13 6
Steven Vasquez (W,2-1), Josh Ruffin (6), Lucas Stewart (7; SV,1) and Robbie Johns. Tom Thornton (L,1-1), Chris Vasami (5), Jess Stewart (7), Tyler Jones (8), Mike Dury (9) and Javi Sanchez.
Home Runs: J.R. Voyles, UTSA (1 on in 4th, 1st of season); Johns, UTSA (1 on in 5th, 1st of season), Matt Edwards, ND (2 on in 5th, 4th of season), Steve Andres, ND (solo in 6th, 2nd of season).
Triple: Ryan Crew (UTSA)
Doubles: Edwards (ND), Danny Dressman (ND), Sanchez (ND), Crew (SIU), Sam Mitchell (SIU), M. McKennon (SIU)