🤙 The Official Newsletter For UTSA Athletics, brought to you by Sport & Story

Good morning, Roadrunners Fam. The Roadrunners baseball team is set to play in the 2026 Astros Foundation College Classic from Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, to Sunday, March 1, 2026, at Daikin Park in Houston. Joining UTSA in playing in the classic will be Ohio State, Baylor, Ole Miss, Coastal Carolina and Texas.

UTSA will kick off the classic playing against Ohio State on Friday, Feb. 27, at 11:05 a.m. CT. This will be the first time Ohio State and UTSA will face off against each other.

The Roadrunners will face off against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 3:05 p.m. This will also be the first-ever matchup between these two teams.

UTSA will then close out the classic against Baylor on Sunday, March 1, at 6:05 p.m.

What other ingredients do we have for the Brew today? Check it out below!

⚾️ James Taussig’s undrafted free agent contract with Chicago White Sox
🏆 Academic honors given out across several sports
🤙🏼 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Raising the Bar. On Monday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association officially announced the 2025 AVCA Team Academic Award winners, with UTSA receiving a special Honor Roll distinction.

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that demonstrated excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining a cumulative team grade-point average of at least 3.30 on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 on a 5.0 scale. The Honor Roll is handed out to programs that rank in the top 20 percent of their division’s GPAs.

🔼 Grit in Action. UTSA Athletics is a national leader in supporting first-generation student-athletes. Throughout the 2025-26 school year, GoUTSA.com will spotlight the department’s first-generation student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff. 

Israel Vasquez is a Fan Engagement Associate with UTSA Athletics after joining the Roadrunners in October 2022. He is a first-generation college graduate from the University of the Incarnate Word where he earned his bachelor’s degree and his Master of Business Administration (MBA). 

Q: What does it mean to you to be a first-generation college graduate?  

Israel Vasquez: “My grandparents are from Mexico and El Salvador. We had it kind of hard growing up. Education wasn’t really a big thing in our household just because of how we grew up and where we were from. I saw how hard my family worked just to put food on the table. When I turned 16, I knew I had to get a job and start working to help my family. Just seeing how hard they worked made me want to pursue greater things. I wanted to be the change...”

READ THE FULL Q&A

🔼 Gentlemen and Scholars. For the seventh consecutive season, a member of the UTSA men’s tennis team has received national academic honors through Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), with three Roadrunners selected as ITA Scholar-Athletes in Danijal Muminovic, Luke Cantu and Ben Chetewy Ungar. On top of the Roadrunners’ individual honors, the team was recognized among the All-Academic Team honors for the third consecutive season and fourth time in the past six years.

To be eligible for ITA Scholar-Athlete honors, student-athletes had to have a 3.5+ GPA for the academic year, with the trio appearing among the 994 standout academic performers across NCAA Division I during the 2025 season.

📚 MORE ON HOW THEY GOT HERE 🎾

🔼 These Two Court Academic Success. UTSA Women’s Tennis was awarded the ITA All-Academic Team ITA. Vittoria Baccino and Milica Milosavljevic were awarded ITA Scholar-Athletes. With a team GPA of 3.28 on the year, the Roadrunners were awarded as an ITA All-Academic team.

Baccino had a GPA higher than 3.5, making her an ITA Scholar-Athlete, one of only two Women’s Tennis student-athletes to achieve this distinction. Milosavljevic also had a GPA higher than 3.5 to be awarded as an ITA Scholar-Athlete, being the other Women’s Tennis student-athlete to accomplish this feat this year.

🔼 The O-Dub Downlow. Get to know UTSA women's golf student-athlete Olivia Williams in this Q&A.

Q: What do you like most about being a student-athlete at UTSA?

Williams: "One of the things I enjoy most about being a student-athlete at UTSA is having access to practice at TPC San Antonio. It's such a high-quality facility and it really motivates me to keep pushing myself to improve." 

Q: What is an interesting fact about you that most people might not know?

Williams: "I'm a black belt in Taekwondo. I did it for several years growing up and it really helped me develop discipline, focus and mental toughness. I am very fortunate to have learned these life skills from a young age." 

⛳️ READ THE FULL Q&A

🤙🏼 ONE BIG THING

Gone With the Wind(y) City. Outfielder James Taussig signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Chicago White Sox on Monday. Taussig is the 19th Roadrunner to sign an undrafted free agent deal. He is the third UTSA student-athlete to sign a UDFA contract with the White Sox.

Taussig spent three years with the Roadrunners, where he played in 119 games, making 102 starts. He had a standout year, batting .344 on the year with two homers. He shone at the Austin Regional, eventually being named to the Austin Regional All-Tournament Team and Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player.

🤓 UTSA TRIVIA

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📅 ON THE DOCKET

＊ All Times Are in CST

Thursday, Aug. 14
⚽️ Soccer vs. Houston- Season Opener @ 7:30 PM

Friday, Aug. 29
🏐 Volleyball vs. Stephen F. Austin - UTSA Invitational @ 6:00 PM

Saturday, Aug. 30
🏈 Football @ Texas A&M - Season Opener @ 6:00 PM ESPN | Ticket 760
🏐 Volleyball vs. Texas State - UTSA Invitational @ 6:00 PM

Sunday, Aug. 3

🤙🏼 Go here for the full UTSA Athletics Calendar

ℹ TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 11!

On Monday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association officially announced the 2025 AVCA Team Academic Award winners, with UTSA receiving a special Honor Roll distinction. The Roadrunners were recognized for the 11th time in the awards history and have now earned it in back-to-back seasons after charting a program-record 3.77 GPA across the 2024-25 academic year. Additionally, the ‘Runners were one of seven American Athletic Conference programs to be honored.

🤙🏼 Let’s get over the hump, Roadrunner Nation!