|
For Immediate
Release: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 GUERRA'S ONE-HITTER EARNS BRONCS SPLIT WITH INCARNATE WORD EDINBURG, TX- Freshman pitcher Aaron Guerra (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg
HS) tossed the first one-hitter for The University of Texas-Pan American
baseball team in six years to lead the Broncs to a Guerra's one-hitter was UTPA's first since Mike Eiffert turned the trick against Southwest Texas State in 1991. Incarnate Word won the first game of the doubleheader in 10 innings, 12-8. UTPA moved to 5-6 with the split, and Incarnate Word is now 5-5. "That was our first shutout this year," said UTPA Head Coach Willie Gawlik. "Aaron is going to be a good pitcher. He's started four games, and has had three quality outings." In the nightcap, Texas-Pan American scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman left fielder Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) led off with a single to left field, and advanced to second on an error by UIW left fielder Matthew Taylor. After moving to third base on a wild pitch, Alamia scored on a double by sophomore first baseman Tony Ortiz (Fort Worth, TX/Nolan HS) to left centerfield. Ortiz would later score on a sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Aldo Alonzo (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS/UT-Brownsville). UTPA added two more runs in the sixth inning when Alamia led off with a triple to left field, and scored on Ortiz' single. Ortiz moved to second base on a single by sophomore designated hitter Ricky Anderson (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas HS/North Central Texas College), and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Alonzo. Freshman second baseman T.J. Gilmer (Forney, TX/Forney HS) drove in the final run of the game, singling to right field to plate Ortiz and give UTPA a 4-0 lead. Guerra improved to 2-2 with the victory. Alamia and Ortiz each went two-for-three, while Ortiz had two runs batted in. The Broncs had six hits and no errors. Jason Munoz suffered the loss for UIW, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out four and walking one. Jeff Tondre recorded the lone hit for Incarnate Word, a single to left field with one out in the top of the fifth inning. In the opener, Justin Krawietz' grand-slam home run capped a five-run
rally in the top of the 10th inning as the Crusaders foiled a Texas-Pan
American comeback and defeated the Broncs. The Broncs rallied from a 7-2 deficit with five runs in their final three at-bats. Alamia drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the seventh. Sophomore shortstop Marco Garza (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) cut the lead to 7-4 with an RBI single in the eighth and Ortiz followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the Crusaders' lead to two. Alamia led off the ninth with a walk, freshman catcher Jarod Hickle (LaGrange, TX/LaGrange HS) singled, and sophomore center fielder Jonathan Mason (San Antonio, TX/Jay HS) followed with a sacrifice fly and reached when Taylor dropped the ball for an error. Senior right fielder Jerome McCoy (Fort Worth, TX/Eastern Hills HS/Northeast CC) bunted for a single to load the bases. One out later, T.J. Gilmer reached on an error by Krawietz to tie the game. But reliever Andy Chevalier got Garza to hit into a force play at home and retired Ortiz on a fly ball to end the inning. Senior pitcher Travis Parker (Brownsville, TX/Homer Hanna HS /UT-Brownsville) relieved starter Tommy Sorden (Jr. Austin, TX/Bowie HS/Navarro College) in the second inning, and allowed two runs on five hits over 7.1 innings of relief. "Travis did a great job keeping us in the game," said Gawlik. "He gave us a chance to win." Chevalier earned the win and improved to 1-0, while Gibson took the loss and fell to 0-1. "The first game was a sloppy game," said Gawlik. "Neither team played well. Both teams played and pitched well in the second game. We got a couple key hits and played good defense." The Broncs will return to action on Saturday when they host Arkansas-Monticello in a double header. The first pitch will come at 3:00 p.m.
|