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For Immediate
Release: Friday, March 14, 2003 BRONCS DEFEAT PRAIRIE VIEW A & M AT UTPA/AL OGLETREE CLASSIC EDINBURG, TX- Sophomore lefthander John Ortiz (Mission, TX/Mission HS) and junior righthander Ben Diorio (Canon City, CO/Canon City HS/Seward County CC) supplied the pitching, and The University of Texas-Pan American's baseball team supplied the hitting, as the Broncs posted season highs in runs and hits en route to a 16-3 victory over Prairie View A&M on the first day of action at the first annual UTPA/Al Ogletree Classic at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium Friday night. Lopez, who hadn't pitched since injuring his hand in the first game of a doubleheader against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi two weeks ago, allowed three runs in five innings, and the Broncs scored 10 runs in their final three at-bats to pull away from the stubborn Panthers. Sophomore catcher Matt Eichel's (Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS) infield single in the first inning and an error by PVAMU shortstop Jonathan Colvin allowed Texas-Pan American to take a 1-0 lead. But the Panthers struck back, scoring three times in the third inning, once on Colvin's double and twice more on a double by catcher Brian McGinty. The Broncs went back on top for good in the bottom of the third. Senior left fielder Bruce Kennedy (Mansfield, TX/Mansfield HS/North Central Texas CC) doubled, sophomore shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) tripled, and junior third baseman Matt Sisk (Fort Worth, TX/Arlington Heights HS/New Mexico) homered over the left field fence. Kennedy doubled home a run in the fourth, and junior second baseman Aldo Alonzo's (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS/UT-Brownsville) sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 6-3 before UTPA pulled away. Texas-Pan American scored five times in the sixth. Garza drove in a run with an infield out, sophomore first baseman Tony Ortiz (Fort Worth, TX/Nolan HS) tripled in a run and scored on an error, senior right fielder Jerome McCoy (Forth Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC) walked with the bases loaded, and Kennedy singled for another run. Sophomore designated hitter Juan Saenz (Mission, TX/Mission HS) was hit with the bases loaded to drive in a run in the seventh, and the Broncs tacked on four more runs in the eighth. Sisk doubled home two runs, Eichel singled home another, and Alonzo's bases-loaded walk accounted for the final run of the game. Sisk had four RBIs, while Kennedy had five hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and a triple. Freshman right fielder Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a pair of singles before he was replaced in the sixth inning. Lopez earned the victory and improved to 2-0, while Panther starter Jacob Gipson, who surrendered 10 earned runs and 16 hits in six innings, took the loss and fell to 1-6. DiOrio pitched four innings of one-hit ball to earn his first save of the season. "It was great to see John come back and pitch,"
said UTPA Head Coach Willie Gawlik. "We only wanted to have him
go five innings, and we knew he wouldn't be at full strength, but he
needed the work. Ben pitched well, and we only walked one batter and
committed no errors. We also had a good day at the plate, and Matt Sisk
made a couple of good defensive plays, one at third base, and one at
shortstop."
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