🤙The Official Newsletter For UTSA Athletics

Good morning, Roadrunners Fam. Who’s ready for the Orange Out for the UTSA Volleyball I-35 Showdown at the Convo TONIGHT?!

😾 Texas State

🗓 Wednesday

⏰ 6 PM

The Roadrunners (1-2, 0-0 The American) are coming off the Quest for the Crown tournament that saw them fall to William & Mary (26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-21) and host-school Old Dominion (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) before besting Marist (25-18, 25-15, 25-12).

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

🥎 Former Texas A&M-International star becomes assistant coach
⚽️ Coach Derek Pittman collects his 50th win as UTSA’s head soccer coach
🤙🏼 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 A Leg Up. Head UTSA softball coach Vann Stuedeman officially announced the addition of former Texas A&M-International standout Heather Ruiz to the coaching staff ahead of the 2024 fall campaign.

Ruiz was a four-year starter for the Dustdevils, working a stellar .321 batting average across 393 plate appearances.

Following her playing career, she joined the Dustdevils’ strength and conditioning staff as an intern in 2022, where she assisted in developing and implementing plans for women’s basketball, softball, and volleyball during all phases. She then joined UTSA, performing a similar role in the Roadrunners’ Sports Performance Department.

🔼 Coker, Kessler, and Coach Come Together. UTSA remained perfect at home as sophomore forward Tyler Coker netted a 49’ score for the Roadrunners (4-2), who held on to the 1-0 victory over Colorado State (3-2-1) with defensive support from sophomore keeper Jasmine Kessler. The effort produced the second milestone inside a week for head coach Derek Pittman, who collected his 50th win as UTSA’s head coach.

🔼 Putnicki’s Preconceived Notion. UTSA Volleyball sophomore Miranda Putnicki was born in San Antonio but never could have imagined herself becoming a Roadrunner. 

Putnicki’s parents, Thaddeus and Melanie, both hail from the city, and two of her uncles, Billy and Mike, played baseball for UTSA during the 1990s. Growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Putnicki had an outdated perspective of the university, which has been on an impressive trajectory in recent years. 

“When my family grew up here, UTSA was a commuter school and we didn’t have a football team,” Putnicki said. “Now, we have all these amazing sports really growing; the growth is exciting.

Go here for more on Putnicki’s journey, including Coach Price-Torok’s role in her coming to UTSA, recovering from injuries, and her role as an ambassador to the team.

🔼 Cool Story, Eh? Learn more about UTSA Soccer’s Lulie MacFarlane, who grew up playing ice hockey on boys’ teams in Canada.

“It just made me a tough person on and off the field and the ice."

🔼 THUD Mode Activated. Very few have made such an impact on UTSA Football—literally and physically—as Brandon Brown. 

At a spring 2021 practice, the Roadrunners were going through THUD drills, meaning players were not to be taken to the ground on tackles. Brown, who had recently transferred from Tulane, had other ideas. 

What he didn’t realize is that he was matched up against Sincere McCormick, the reigning MVP of the Conference USA Championship Game, who now plays for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. 

“I didn’t really see it was him,” Brown said. “I hit Sincere McCormick pretty hard and gator-rolled him to the ground.” 

Jeff Traylor, entering his third season as UTSA’s head coach, stopped the practice, called the team together, and called out Brown for his mistake. 

“Since then, it’s been a great relationship,” Brown said. “He’s called me THUD because I did something I wasn’t supposed to do in THUD mode.” 

Go here for more on Brown’s friendship with McCormick and the honors he’s earned.

🔼 O-YEAH. UTSA sophomore Owen McCown was one of 8 QBs chosen as a Manning Award Star of the Week. Cast your vote for Owen by 9 AM Thursday!

🤔 UTSA TRIVIA

🤙 ONE BIG THING

Who Doesn’t Love Clean Sheets? Congrats, Jasmine Kessler!

And another BIG THING in soccer news! 👇🏼

📬 SPREAD THE WORD

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📅 COMING SOON

Wednesday, Sept. 4
🏐 Volleyball vs. Texas State - I-35 Showdown/Orange-Out @ 6:00 PM CST ESPN+ Tickets | Live Stats
🎙 Jeff Traylor Radio Show @ 7:00 PM CST | Audio | Video

Thursday, Sept. 5
(No Activities Scheduled)

Friday, Sept. 6
🏐 Volleyball vs. Holy Cross - UTSA Invitational/Educator Appreciation @ 10:00 AM CST ESPN+ Tickets | Live Stats
🏐 Volleyball vs. Abilene Christian - UTSA Invitational/Educator Appreciation @ 7:00 PM CST ESPN+ Tickets | Live Stats

Saturday, Sept. 7
🏐 Volleyball vs. UIW - UTSA Invitational/Hometown Heroes @ 2:00 PM CST ESPN+ Tickets | Live Stats
🏈 Football @ Texas State @ 3:00 PM CST ESPNU | Watch | Listen | Live Stats

Sunday, Sept. 8
⛳️ Women’s Golf @ Badger Invitational
⚽️ Soccer @ Central Arkansas @ 1 p.m. CST

🤙🏼 Go here for the full UTSA Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: UTSA Football’s record against Texas State is 5-0.

Birds Up!

🤙🏼 Happy Wednesday, y’all!