March 22, 2006
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team completed a season sweep of the Texas State Bobcats on Wednesday (Mar. 22) in San Marcos, TX with a 5-4 come from behind win.
The Bobcats struck first when Thomas Field doubled off Bronc starter Ryne Foster (Cedar Park, TX/Cedar Park H.S.) in the third inning. Heath Keel and Kyle Jones followed Field with back-to-back singles, driving in Field. Luke Cannon then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Keel to give TSU a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Keel drove a double to right center field, scoring Field from first base. Jones followed that with a single to right center to pick up his second RBI of the game. Texas State held a 4-0 advantage through five innings.
The Broncs finally pushed a run across in the top of the seventh when Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) smacked a two-out double to left center field, scoring T.J. Gilmer (Forney, TX/Forney H.S.) from first. Alamia then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball as Zach Smith (Sanger, TX/Sanger H.S.) walked.
Trailing 4-2 heading in to the eighth, UTPA pulled within one when Ruben Shives, Jr. (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) scored on a throwing error by the catcher as Leighton Autrey (Stephenville, TX/Navarro J.C.) stole second. Autrey advanced to third on the next play as Gilmer dropped a sacrifice bunt, reaching first on a throwing error. He then stole second before Alamia hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Autrey and move Gilmer to third. Gilmer scored on the pitch as Osiel Flores (Mission, TX/UT-Brownsville) lined a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Broncs a 5-4 lead.
Texas State threatened in the eighth as reliever Ronnie Morales (Great Falls, MT/Barton County C.C.) allowed a leadoff single and then hit the next batter. Morales struck out the next hitter before closer Tim Haines (Mission, TX/Blinn College) came in and induced a ground ball to second base. Haines walked the bases loaded and then got a fly-out to left field to end the threat. He then retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts to earn his sixth save of the season and pulled within one of the program record for saves in a career with 12.
Alamia hit safely in his sixth straight game and led the Broncs with three hits in four at-bats. The Bronc senior drove in two runs and scored one run with a pair of doubles. Gilmer went 0-for-4 at the plate but managed to reach base twice and score two runs.
Seven Bronc hitters collected one hit a piece in the game while Flores had the only other RBI for UTPA.
Foster, making his third start of the season, went five innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits. The Bronc left-hander walked two batters while striking out zero. Aaron Guerra (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out four to earn the win. His record now stands at 2-4 on the season.
The Broncs record sits at 13-17 with the victory and the Bobcats fall to 11-15.
UTPA's next stop is in Corpus Christi, TX where they will play a two-game series against the Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders. The first game will be played at Whataburger Field at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Mar. 25).
UTPA Sports Information
