March 17, 2007
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team could have used a little luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day when they fell to the University of Northern Colorado by a score of 7-2 at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium on Saturday (Mar. 17).
The Broncs fall to 10-19 on the season while the Bears improved their record to 6-8 with a win in game two of a three-game series in Edinburg, TX.
Northern Colorado produced two runs on two hits and one error in the top of the second inning before the Broncs responded in the bottom of the second when Leighton Autrey (Stephenville, TX/Navarro J.C.) hit an RBI single to third base, beating the throw to first which allowed Dominic Tognietti (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) the opportunity to come home to put the score at 2-1 early in the contest.
Northern Colorado bruised the Broncs in the third frame with three runs on five hits to make the score 5-1. Starting pitcher Bryce Smolen (Houston, TX/Lamar H.S.) gave up five runs on seven hits, including three Bear scores in the top of the third before Alex Guajardo (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) retired the final batter.
After two scoreless innings, the Bears extended their lead to 7-1 in the top of the sixth frame on a Trey Keene RBI double off the left center field wall that scored two runs. The multi-RBI hit prompted a UTPA call to the bullpen that made Steven Davila (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco H.S.) the third Bronc pitcher of the day.
The Broncs capitalized on a Northern Colorado pitching change in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring one run on an Osiel Flores (Mission, TX/UT-Brownsville) RBI single to left field that plated Jeremy Johnson (League City, TX/Alvin Junior College) to make it a 7-2 contest. But the Bears put an end to the attempted rally when with two outs and the bases loaded, Tognietti tried to score on a wild pitch only to be tagged out at home by relief pitcher T.R. Keating.
Three Bears had multi-hit games in Keene, Kevin Sandberg and Chad Murray with two hits apiece while the seven Northern Colorado runs came from seven different players.
For the Broncs, Flores and Tognietti each had two hits while Flores recorded an RBI in three appearances at the plate.
Northern Colorado pitcher Chris Reap earned the win for his four innings on the mound, fanning 10 batters and allowing just one run and four hits while teammate Keating gets the save for closing out the game.
Smolen drops to 2-3 on the season, allowing five runs on seven hits during his 2.2 innings on the mound.
The Broncs return to action in the final game of the series against the Bears with game-time scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
UTPA Sports Information
