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For Immediate
Release: Saturday, March 1, 2003 BRONCS SWEEP ISLANDERS EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American's baseball team played two distinctly different games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their doubleheader against the Islanders at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium Saturday night. The Broncs were successful in both ends of the doubleheader, winning the opener, 15-2, and the nightcap, 6-5. Texas-Pan American had to come from behind in the seven-inning nightcap. The Broncs, who trailed, 5-0, after 2 ½ innings, got two runs in the third on a sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) and an RBI single by sophomore first baseman Tony Ortiz (Fort Worth, TX/Nolan HS). UTPA drew another run closer in the fifth on another Garza sacrifice fly. The Broncs took the lead for good in the sixth. Jorge Huerta relieved starting pitcher Scott Walker, and Ortiz reached on a throwing error by third baseman James Garner, and sophomore catcher Matt Eichel (Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS) pinch-hit and walked. Freshman left fielder Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) beat out a bunt to load the bases. Junior third baseman Ben DiOrio (Canon City, CO/Canon City HS/Seward County CC) walked to bring the Broncs to within 5-4. Freshman second baseman T.J. Gilmer (Forney, TX/Forney HS) singled to right to tie the score, and senior right fielder Jerome McCoy (Fort Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC) walked to bring in the go-ahead run. TAMU-CC struck for five runs in the first three innings against UTPA freshman starter Aaron Guerra (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS). First baseman Humberto Aguilar hit a two-run homer in the first, Garner homered in the second, and Aguilar's single and a sacrifice fly by right fielder Josh Hulin made it 5-0 in the third. But junior righthander Johnny Gibson replaced Guerra, and allowed no runs and three hits in the final 4 2/3 innings. "Those two balls that they hit out of here were shots," said UTPA Head Coach Willie Gawlik. "We stayed with them, played good defense, and we had to work hard to come back from adversity, which is what we had when we were down, 5-0." Gibson earned the victory and improved to 2-1, while Huerta took the loss and fell to 1-1. The Broncs cruised in the opener, scoring seven runs in the first inning. Ortiz and DiOrio had run-scoring singles, while senior designated hitter Bruce Kennedy (Mansfield, TX/Mansfield HS/Northeast CC) doubled home two more. Garza singled home a run in the sixth, and Texas-Pan American scored six times in the eighth, with Kennedy, Ortiz, and Eichel contributing RBI singles, Alamia driving in a run with a double and sophomore center fielder Jonathan Mason (San Antonio, TX/Jay HS) knocking in another run with a triple. Junior lefthander Tommy Sorden (Austin, TX/Bowie HS/Navarro College), who relieved starter John Lopez (So. Mission, TX/Mission HS) in the third when Lopez jammed a finger fielding a ground ball, earned the victory, improving to 1-1 while allowing two runs and six hits during the final 6 1/3 innings. Starter Danny Arroyo, who worked only the first inning for TAMU-CC, took the defeat and fell to 1-1. "We got off to a great start in the first game," said Gawlik. "We scored early, and that gave us momentum for the rest of the game." The Broncs improved to 9-7 with the wins, while the Islanders fell to 7-4 with the defeats. The teams will conclude their three-game series with a single game Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. DiOrio will pitch against Islander righthander Jimmy Hamon. BA-32-03030103
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