AUSTIN – Braylon Owens was so overcome with emotion when he struck out Texas’ Max Belyeu to cap UTSA’s 9-7 win against the Longhorns on Saturday, he wasn’t quite sure how to celebrate.
“The final out, I don’t even know,” Owens said. “You watch me celebrate and I’m like, I don’t know what to do, I’m so excited. That was huge.”
Owens, an Elgin, Texas, native, joined the Roadrunners in 2022, helping spark a streak of four consecutive seasons with 30 or more wins. He trusted in head coach Pat Hallmark’s vision and has helped it come to fruition, as UTSA is in the midst of the best season in program history with 46 wins and the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship. The Roadrunners will play in their first NCAA Regional Final on Sunday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
“Just at practice, listening to Coach Hallmark talk about baseball, it made me fully believe in him,” Owens said. “When you play for Coach Hallmark, he talks about the little things that a lot of people won’t talk about.”
After UTSA took the lead in the top of the sixth inning, Owens – typically one of his team’s weekend starters – entered the game in the bottom half of the frame in relief of Kendall Dove (3-0), who was credited with the win. Owens struck out seven over the game’s final four innings – including two Longhorns in the bottom of the night – to secure the victory for the Roadrunners.
It was a particularly meaningful moment for Owens, who has been part of building the program and contributing to its rapid trajectory.
“The whole time when we were on base, I was just thinking about me going in,” Owens said. “In the bullpen, I wasn’t too nervous, I was more excited. I got to pitch in front of all these UTSA fans and my family that only lives 30 minutes from here. That was all I wished for.”
Versatility Vexes Volantis
UTSA was in search of some insurance in the top of the ninth inning and it found it in one of the most unlikely of ways.
With two outs, 6-foot-6 senior right fielder James Taussig employed a drag bunt past Texas’ Dylan Volantis, the team’s ace closer to bring home Mason Lytle from third. It wasn’t a play designed by his coaches, it was an opportunity that Taussig saw at the plate.
“We’re just trying to be adaptable and we’re looking for ways to beat people,” Hallmark said. “The game presents that. I would never have put JT in the drag bunt category. I did not call that play; that was 100 percent Taussig.”
The leadership Hallmark sees from his players and the versatility that they bring to the field is something the sixth-year head coach admires about his team.
“He told me after the game, ‘Coach, you know the chances of me getting two clean hits on Volantis are so small. Lefties hit .160 on him. That’s why I bunted there.’ This is the player telling the coach all this stuff. I’m lucky I get to coach these guys.”
Dog-gone Right
Junkyard Dogs is a phrase the UTSA Baseball team has used for years to capture its spirit of grit and resiliency. As the Roadrunners’ success continues, it’s become an identity that is more widely known and one that resonates with its fanbase.
“All four years, we’ve always had a piece of tape in our locker room that said JYD,” Owens said. “Now that everybody is starting to know that’s how we see ourselves, it feels good.”
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle used the phrase to describe the Roadrunners in crediting them on their 9-7 victory against his team on Saturday night.
“This is not some jackleg team that is just getting hot,” Schlossnagle said. “They are Junkyard Dogs and they are a really good team.”