Feb. 29, 2004 -
Edinburg, Texas - Washington State (7-3) used two big innings to take a 15-6 win over Texas-Pan American (7-10). The victory gave the Cougars the series, two games to one.
Washington State hit the Broncs hard in the first inning. Kaeo Rubin opened the game with a triple to right center. Collin Henderson grounded out to drive in Rubin. Jay Miller was hit by a pitch. Grant Richardson doubled to drive in Miller and advanced to third on an error. The Cougars got their last run as Jeremy Farrar singled to score Richardson.
Texas-Pan American came right back in the bottom of the first. T.J. Gilmer (So./Forney, Texas/Forney HS) singled through the left side. Ryan Grimet (Fr./Pearland, Texas/Pearland HS) struck out but Gilmer stole second. Tony Ortiz (Jr./Fort Worth, Texas/Nolan HS) laced a triple to right center to score Gilmer. Marco Garza (Jr./Mission, Texas/Sharyland HS) singled to third base to score Ortiz.
In the third inning, Greg Keim tripled to left center to drive in Farrar and make it 4-2. In the bottom of the third, Louie Alamia (So./Edinburg, Texas/Edinburg North HS) led off with a solo home run that landed in the left field bullpen. Singles by Gilmer and Grimet put two on with one out for Garza. Garza then doubled to left center to drive in Gilmer and Grimet. That made it 5-4, Broncs.
In the fourth inning, Jay Miller doubled to left center field to score Jeff Miller and Rubin to make it 6-5. In the bottom of the fourth, Alamia lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Aaron Flowers (Jr./Rowlett, Texas/Northeast CC). The Cougars would score four runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth to break the game open. A scary moment occurred in the seventh inning when Alamia and Matt Sisk (Sr./Fort Worth, Texas/Arlington Heights HS) collided head-to-head while chasing a ball in the outfield. Both players left the game but are doing fine.
For UTPA, Flowers had three hits, Garza had two hits and drove in three runs while Gilmer had two hits and scored two runs. Alamia extended his hitting streak to 14 games and his reaching base safely streak to 27 games.
For Washington State, Henderson was 2-for-6, scored two runs and drove in four, Richardson was 3-for-5 with three RBI's and Rubin scored three runs. Dane Renkert gave up three hits and one run in four innings for the win.
"It was a frustrating weekend on the mound for us." Said assistant coach Johnny Johnson. "As a staff we need to throw more aggressively at the strike zone. When we start to do that, we will be more successful."
Texas-Pan American is back at Edinburg Baseball Stadium on March 6-7 for a two game series against Arkansas. The game on Saturday, the 6th is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game on Sunday the 7th is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
