For Immediate Release: April 27, 2002
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Director of Athletic Media Relations, (956) 381-2240

BRONCS, ST. MARY’S SPLIT

EDINBURG, TX –The University of Texas-Pan American’s baseball team made the most of their opportunities Saturday.

The Broncs scored four runs on only three hits in the second game of their doubleheader against St. Mary’s at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium. They were enough, as UTPA defeated the Rattlers, 4-2, earning a split. SMC won the opener, 9-3.

The Broncs fell behind, 2-0 in the top of the first inning of the nightcap, when two singles and a double play produced one run and a solo home run by designated hitter Fernando Tadefa produced the other. But UTPA took the lead in the bottom of the first. Junior second baseman Jerome McCoy (Fort Worth, TX/ Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC), junior left fielder Bruce Kennedy (Mansfield, TX/Mansfield HS/Northeast Texas CC) and sophomore third baseman Matt Sisk (Fort Worth, TX/Arlington Heights HS/New Mexico) began the inning by drawing walks from Rattler starter Brandon Roznovsky. Junior designated hitter Jarrad Maddox (Houston, TX/Jersey Village HS/Northern Arkansas JC) followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in one run, junior right fielder Skip Weast (Inola, OK/Inola HS/Crowder JC) singled to tie the game, and freshman shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) doubled over the head of SMC left fielder Ricky Bonilla to make it 4-2.

Sophomore righthander Justin Bogy (West Columbia, TX/West Columbia HS) made that lead stand up. He shut down the Rattlers on three hits over the final six innings, walking one batter and striking out seven and pitching his fourth complete game and first shutout of the season.

Bogy earned the win, improving his record to 4-4. Roznovsky was the loser and fell to 5-3.

St. Mary’s used a 14-hit attack to win the opener. The Rattlers got a run in the first on an infield out, two more in the second on an RBI double by catcher Gerardo Verastegui and a run-scoring single by right fielder David Nelson, and another in the fourth on Bonilla’s run-scoring hit. First baseman Chris Cammarillo hit a solo homer in the fourth, and center fielder Steve Driffill’s two run homer keyed a four-run fifth.

UTPA scored twice in the third inning. McCoy walked, Kennedy doubled, and Weast delivered both runs with a two-out single. The Broncs scored in the sixth when McCoy beat out an infield hit, advanced to second on shortstop Nick Siljendahl’s throwing error, stole third, and scored on a throwing error by Verastegui.

Tadefa pitched the first innings and earned the victory, improving his record to 9-4. UTPA starter Mike Calvert (Sr. Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS/Navarro JC) took the loss and fell to 0-1.

“Justin Bogy pitched well in the second game, and we got a couple of big hits when we needed them,” said UTPA Head Coach Reggie Tredaway. “We had a plan. We pitched the righthanders away, and the lefthanders in, and it worked. We did that primarily because of the wind. If we don’t get the pitching, then it puts a lot of pressure on your defense, and you make errors, and give up a lot of runs. And we don’t have the kind of offense to overcome that.”

The Broncs improved to 14-31 by winning the second game, while St. Mary’s dropped to 29-18. UTPA will return to action when they host Incarnate Word in a doubleheader Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

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