It is unlikely that the University of Texas-San Antonio will be much more than a footnote on this year’s college baseball archives. However, the Roadrunners hope that their tough early season schedule will help them enter Olsen Field on Tuesday for their matchup with the No. 22 Aggies with a chance of upsetting Texas A&M and getting a preparation boost for their conference schedule.
“The challenge will not be trying to pass a mountain too high to climb, but climbing the mountain one step at a time,” said UTSA Head Coach Sherman Corbett. “It is my intention to play these teams with the purpose of fully preparing ourselves for the Southland Conference schedule.”
The Roadrunners (4-7) have already faced two national powerhouses, defending national champion University of Texas and then-No. 2 Rice University, and have matched up against the University of Oklahoma and Baylor University this season.
The Aggies (10-4) will hope to stop not only the Roadrunners, but also the bleeding from a 17-1 loss on Sunday against the University of Arizona on the road. The Wildcats took two of three games from A&M this weekend to claim the series.
A&M starter Kyle Parcus allowed five earned runs in the bottom of the third inning to the Wildcats and fell to 0-2 in the season. Junior Matt Alexander scored the Aggies’ only run of the game in the first inning.
Last season, the Aggies swept Arizona in the season series.
As the Aggies hope to bounce back from the loss, Head Coach Mark Johnson knows that big conferences are not the only ones that house good baseball teams.
“I think it’s a plus for any of those teams not in the Big 12 to play us,” Johnson said. “There aren’t any easy games in our state, very similar to to what (teams in) southern California and Florida run into. There isn’t a team that is not well prepared.”
Johnson will look for Matt Farnum to help the Aggies recoup as the junior righthander will start against UTSA. Farnum is 2-0 for the season and is sporting a 1.42 ERA in more than 12 innings of work and two starts this season.
Farnum only started two games last season after being moved to fill a void in the relief role.
“Matt Farnum kind of had an off year (last year),” Johnson said. “I think we put him in that off year because we needed a short reliever and took him out of the starting role.”
UTSAwill start senior lefthander Trey Rice, who led the team in wins last season. Rice has started three games for the Roadrunners and is 2-1 with a 3.36 ERA. He also recorded 16 strikeouts in 17 innings of work.
The full pitching staff is returning this season for the Roadrunners, and Rice is one of 11 seniors on the UTSA team, a factor that Corbett believes will help his team make it through its tough schedule.
“We have a more experienced team this year considering that last year we replaced all of the middle positions,” Corbett said. “Last year’s newcomers were all talented in those respective positions; however, they had not yet played together as a unit.”
A&M and UTSA split the two-game season series last year and the Aggies hold the all-time series lead against the Roadrunners 9-6. The teams will also meet again this season March 18 at Wolff Stadium.
First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at OlsenField.
The Aggies will hope to ride the momentum of a win against UTSA as they head to RoundRock to battle the Southwest Texas Bobcats Wednesday at 6 p.m.
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