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For Immediate Release: February 2, 2002 BRONCS BOW TO SWTSU IN OPENER EDINBURG, TX –For four innings, The University of
Texas-Pan American and Southwest Texas State were locked up in a
pitchers’ duel in the 2002 season opener at Edinburg North High School
Saturday afternoon. Then the Bobcats scored 11 runs on 14 hits in their
next four at-bats, and went on to a 12-3 victory over the Broncs. Bronc sophomore third baseman Matt Sisk (Fort
Worth, TX/University of New Mexico/Arlington Heights HS) slammed a solo
homer over the left field fence in the bottom of the second inning to
tie the score at 1-1. SWTSU had taken the lead in the top of the first
on a one-out triple by Evan Tierce and an RBI groundout by Jason
Spencer. The Bobcats too the lead for good in the fifth
against UTPA junior righthander Travis Parker (Brownsville,
TX/Brownsville Hanna HS/UT-Brownsville). Cody Covert doubled and scored
on Marc Coles’ single. Two outs later, Jason Washington was hit
by a pitch. Tierce singled home one run, and another crossed on
an error. Mark Younk’s leadoff home run, Kevin Virtue’s
single, and a one-out, two-run homer by Coles made it 8-1 and induced
UTPA Head Coach Reggie Tredaway to summon senior righthander Ed Marko
(Chardon, OH/Notre Dame-Cathedral-Latin/Cleveland State) to take
Parker’s place. The Broncs rallied to score twice in the bottom of
the seventh. With one out, junior catcher Sean Flynn (Bradenton,
FL/Bradenton Christian Academy) got the Broncs’ second hit off starter
Bobby Sawicki, a single up the middle. One out later, freshman first
baseman Chris Jones (Colleyville, TX/Colleyville Heritage HS) beat out
an infield hit up the middle. Junior right fielder Skip Weast (Inola,
OK/Inola HS/Crowder JC) lined a single to left-center to score two runs.
But lefthander Nick Lankford came out of the bullpen and got freshman
second baseman Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) to ground out to
end the inning and the threat. “I thought we played well early, and then Travis
got a little tired,” said Tredaway. “You have to give Southwest
Texas credit. When we made mistakes, they hit the ball, and their
pitcher did a good job jamming our lefthanded hitters, and he pitched a
good game. We’ll come back out tomorrow and see what happens.” The Broncs fell to 0-1, while the Bobcats improved to 1-0. UTPA and Southwest Texas State will conclude the two-game series Sunday in UTPA’s first game at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
BASESWT1-020202
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