For Immediate Release: Saturday, March 29, 2003
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

BRONCS DOWN DALLAS BAPTIST, 5-1

EDINBURG, TX—At the start of the 2003 season, senior righthander Travis Parker (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS/UT-Brownsville) figured to be the ace of The University of Texas-Pan American’s pitching staff.

It took Parker several weeks, but he has now firmly established himself in that role. He made his third consecutive strong start, scattering five hits and pitching his second complete game of the season to lead the Broncs to a 5-1 victory over Dallas Baptist Saturday afternoon at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Parker’s start was almost a carbon copy of his outing 12 days ago, when he pitched a five-hitter in a 6-1 win against Iona. Against DBU, Parker threw 130 pitches and was touched for one run while pitching out of jams in three innings.

While Parker held the Patriots at bay, Texas-Pan American made short work of DBU starter Ethan Barton, scoring five runs in the first inning and driving him from the mound before he recorded an out. Freshman left fielder Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) and senior right fielder Jerome McCoy (Fort Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast Texas CC) led off the bottom of the first with walks. Sophomore shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) bunted for a base hit. Sophomore first baseman Tony Ortiz (Fort Worth, TX/Nolan HS) singled home one run, another scored on Barton’s wild pitch, a third scored on a throwing error by Patriot shortstop Blair Robinson, and sophomore catcher Matt Eichel (Grapevine, TX/Grapevine HS) capped the rally with a two-run double down the left field line.

Parker held DBU hitless until designated hitter Cody Montgomery singled with two out in the fourth. He then hit center fielder Josh Causey, but got first baseman Greg Lindsey to ground out to Ortiz.

The Patriots threatened twice more. Robinson led off the sixth with a single, right fielder Daniel Tsukahara beat out and infield hit, and Montgomery singled to score Robinson, But Parker got Causey to line out to junior third baseman Matt Sisk (Fort Worth, TX/Arlington Heights HS/New Mexico), and catcher John Schindler bounced to Sisk to end the inning. DBU got two men on in the eighth, but Lindsey flied to Alamia to end the threat. Left fielder Jon Wilson singled with one out in the ninth, but Parker struck out third baseman Lance Bina and Eichel threw out Wilson trying to steal to end the game.

“Travis Parker threw a great game,” said UTPA Head Coach Willie Gawlik. “He scattered five hits, and we played great defense. We didn’t make any errors, and we made a couple of plays to help him out of jams. Travis threw a lot of pitches, but he’s strong, and he’s a senior, and at this time of the year, he can do that without any problems. I had confidence that he would get out of a couple of situations that he got into, and each time, he focused and came through.”

Lefthander Jeremy Wilson, who relieved Barton in the first, limited UTPA to four hits during the final eight innings. Alamia was hitless in two at-bats, ending his consecutive game hitting streak at 22. His streak tied the all-time UTPA record set by Joe Hernandez in 1975. Alamia walked in the first inning, popped to shortstop in the second, struck out in the fourth and was hit by a pitch in the seventh.

“Louie had a great run,” said Gawlik. “It’s very tough to hit in as many games as he did. He’s been hitting well against all kinds of pitching, and today, he just wasn’t able to get a hit. That lefthander did a good job against us.”

Parker improved to 3-2 with the victory, while Barton took the defeat and fell to 5-2.

The Broncs improved to 16-15 with the victory, while the Patriots fell to 20-16 with the defeat.

Texas-Pan American will return to action when they host Texas A&M-Kingsville Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in a doubleheader at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

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