March 13, 2007

Box Score

The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team suffered a setback in the first game of a two-game series against the University of Oklahoma by a score of 4-1 in Norman, OK, on Tuesday (Mar. 13).

The Broncs fall to 9-17 on the season and are currently in a four-game winless skid while the Sooners improved to 14-5 and 10-0 at home.

The Broncs got on the board in the top of the second inning when shortstop Matt Guzman (Corpus Christi, TX/UT-San Antonio) reached second base on a single to center field and a sacrifice bunt before rounding third base to make the score 1-0 on a Jerrod Dugas (Orange, TX/Little Cypress-Mauriceville H.S.) RBI single to center field.

Starting pitcher Cody Cisper (Peggs, OK/Northeastern State Univ.) gave up just one hit over the next three innings from 10 batters, but in the bottom of the fifth the Sooners took advantage of a trio of Bronc miscues. With two outs and a man on third base, Aljay Davis hit an RBI single to center field that plated JacksonWilliams. In need of one out to escape the inning without falling behind, UTPA allowed runners to move into scoring position at second and third base on a failed pick-off attempt before another Bronc error and a wild pitch scored the OU base runners to put the score at 3-1.

The Big 12 opponent added to its lead in the following inning when back-to-back singles put Aaron Baker in position to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cory Williamson that made it a 4-1 game.

The Broncs were only able to pick up two hits in the next six innings before Garrett Richards entered the game for OU to record the final three outs, two of which were strike outs.

Davis was the only Sooner to record multiple hits, going 2-for-3, including the game winning RBI in the bottom of the fifth. On the Broncs side, reigning Independent Newcomer of the Week Dominic Tognietti (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) was the only UTPA player to notch more than one hit, going 2-for-4 with one extra-base hit.

Sooner pitcher Joseph Hughes earned the win for his 6.1 innings on the mound in which he gave up five hits and one run on 24 batters faced, including four strike outs. In relief, Ryan Mottern and Richards shutout the final 10 Bronc batters, failing to give up a single hit while fanning four batters with two strike outs apiece.

For the Broncs, Cisper gets tagged with the loss for his 8.0 innings of work in which the Sooners produced four runs on five hits, two earned, while the UTPA newcomer fanned three. As the only Broncs hurler on the evening, Cisper threw 104 pitches to 33 batters while 62 went for strikes.

The Broncs rematch the Sooners and look to end OU's 10-game home unbeaten streak in game two of the short series with first pitch set for 12:00 p.m. in Norman, OK.

UTPA Sports Information