|
For Immediate Release: March 31,
2002 BRONCS
FALL TO TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
EDINBURG,
TX –The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team mounted a
valiant comeback in their game against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Islanders in their game at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium Sunday. Unfortunately
for the Broncs, they fell too far behind at the beginning of the game,
and dropped the decisive game of the three-game series to TAMU-CC, 9-7. The
Islanders took a 5-0 lead in their first three at-bats. Third baseman
Jaime Landin led off with a triple and scored on single by second
baseman Hector Garanzuay. Later in the first inning, catcher Blair
Bourque and designated hitter Rene Chavez hit run-scoring singles to
make it 3-0. First baseman Humberto Aguilar’s two-run homer in the
third inning made it 5-0. The
Broncs cut the lead in the third. With one out, junior second baseman
Jerome McCoy (Fort Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC)
singled and advanced to second base on a hit by junior left fielder
Bruce Kennedy (Mansfield, TX/Mansfield HS/Northeast Texas CC). Sophomore
third baseman Matt Sisk (Fort Worth, TX/Arlington Heights HS/New Mexico)
singled to drive in a run, freshman right fielder Tony Ortiz (Fort
Worth, TX/Nolan HS) doubled to left to drive in another, and freshman
shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) walked with the bases
loaded to make it 5-3. Each
team scored in the fourth. Landin tripled again, and scored on another
hit by Garanzuay. For the Broncs, freshman center fielder John Lopez
(Mission, TX/Mission HS) walked, stole second, moved to third on a fly
ball, and scored when Kennedy doubled down the left field line. The
Islanders struck again in the fifth. Center fielder Michael Bruner
singled home one run, and Garanzuay singled home two more. But senior
righthander Mike Killian (Santa Fe, TX/Santa Fe HS/Hill JC) relieved
starter Justin Dowd (Sr. Waxahachie, TX/Waxahachie HS/Navarro JC) and
got shortstop Rafael Santana to pop out to end the threat. UTPA
got a run in the sixth. With one out, McCoy reached on Landin’s error
and moved up on a balk. Sisk then doubled him home. The
Broncs got a pair in the seventh. Junior designated hitter Skip Weast (Inola,
OK/Inola HS/Crowder JC) and junior catcher Sean Flynn (Bradenton,
FL/Bradenton Christian Academy) doubled for one run. Flynn moved to
third on a grounder and scored on another infield grounder by freshman
first baseman Chris Jones (Colleyville, TX/Colleyville Heritage HS). UTPA
threatened in the ninth, as Flynn and freshman pinch hitter Juan Saenz
(Mission, TX/ Mission HS) each singled. But Jones flied out and Lopez
grounded out to end the game.’ “We
gave up too many runs early, we don’t really have the type of offense
that we can count on to score a lot of runs,” said UTPA Head Coach
Reggie Tredaway. ”We got behind, and we battled back. Justin (Dowd)
was sick all week, he struggled a little bit, but when he did, Mike
Killian picked us up.” Killian
pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, while senior righthander Jacob Pierce
(Longview, TX/Longview HS/Navarro JC) blanked TAMU-CC in the ninth. Dowd
was the loser, and fell to 0-5. Lance Kral, who relieved starting
pitcher Eric Martanovic after four innings and held the Broncs to three
runs in the final five innings, earned the victory and improved to 2-0. With
the split, UTPA fell to 8-21, while the Islanders improved to 13-19. The
Broncs will begin a five-game road trip when they visit Southwest Texas
State Tuesday night. BASETAMUCC3033102
|