|
For Immediate Release: April 9, 2002 BRONCS
EARN SPLIT WITH JAVELINAS
EDINBURG,
TX –The Edinburg Baseball Stadium was the scene of two excellent
pitching performances Tuesday night. After
falling victim to a good performance in the opener, The University of
Texas-Pan American baseball team came up with one of their own in the
second game. The Broncs earned a split of their doubleheader, defeating
Texas A&M-Kingsville in the nightcap, 5-0, after losing the
eight-inning opener, 3-2. UTPA
senior righthander Mike Calvert (Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS/Navarro JC)
pitched well enough to win many games in the opener. He pitched six
innings, and allowed two runs in the fourth inning-one on a solo homer
by left fielder Chris Mash, and another on shortstop Kyle Gunn’s
run-scoring single. His
opponent, lefthander Mike Huddleston, was perfect for five innings. The
Broncs finally broke through in the sixth when freshman shortstop Marco
Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS), freshman third baseman Omar Pena
(Mission, TX/Mission HS) and freshman center fielder Jonathan Mason (San
Antonio, TX/Jay HS) opened the inning with consecutive singles, cutting
the Javelinas’ lead in half. Junior second baseman Jerome McCoy (Fort
Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC) followed with a
sacrifice, and Pena scored on a groundout by freshman left fielder John
Lopez (Mission, TX/Mission HS) that tied the score. TAMUK
won it in the first extra inning. Mash singled and was sacrificed to
second. Designated hitter Lee Rodriguez drew a walk. Catcher Aaron
Higginbotham then hit a grounder between the mound and first base, but
Bronc reliever Skip Weast’s (Jr. Inola, OK/Inola HS/Crowder JC) throw
sailed past first base, and Mash scored from second to give the
Javelinas the lead. Huddleston,
who allowed four hits, earned the win and improved to 3-5, while Weast
took the loss and dropped to 0-2. The
Broncs didn’t waste any time getting started in the nightcap. Junior
left fielder Bruce Kennedy (Mansfield, TX/Mansfield HS/Northeast Texas
CC), senior third baseman Adam Farek (Crockett, TX/Crockett HS/Cedar
Valley CC) and freshman right fielder Tony Ortiz (Fort Worth, TX/Nolan
HS) singled for one run. After a walk, freshman catcher Matt Eichel
(Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS) singled for another, and Garza singled for
a third. The
Broncs added a run in the third on Garza’s two-out single, a stolen
base and a run-scoring hit by freshman first baseman Chris Jones
(Colleyville, TX/Colleyville HS). UTPA’s final run crossed in the
fifth on an infield out. While
the Broncs took command offensively, senior righthander Justin Dowd
(Waxahachie, TX/ Waxahachie HS) shut down the TAMUK attack. He pitched
the Broncs’ second complete game shutout of the season, allowing five
hits, walking two and striking out 10. In the second inning, he fanned
designated hitter Armando Huerta when the Javelinas had runners at
second and third and one out. He got Gunn on a fly ball to shallow
center with runners at first and third and one out in the fifth, and
struck out Mask with runners at first and third and one out in the
sixth. He won for the first time this season, improving to 1-6. Aaron
Smith, the first of TAMU-Kingsville pitchers, took the loss and dropped
to 3-3. “Justin Dowd did a great job of pitching in situations,” said UTPA Head Coach Reggie Tredaway. “He got big strikeouts in a few situations where they had two men on, and that’s what you have to do. Their first pitcher got the ball up in the first inning, and we took advantage of it. In the first game, their pitcher pitched a good game. We had to beat him, and we didn’t, and that’s to his credit.” With
the second game victory, UTPA improved to 10-26. Texas
A&M-Kingsville fell to 17-28. The
Broncs will return to action when they host Houston Baptist in the first
game of a three-game series Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. BASETAMUK12040902
|