March 30, 2007
Box Score
Donning its 1971 throwback uniforms, The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team dropped its third-straight game when it suffered an 8-2 setback to North Dakota State University on Friday (Mar. 30) at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
The Broncs dropped to 11-22 on the season while the Bison ended an 11-game winless skid with the victory, improving to 3-13 on the year.
The Bison got on the board by taking advantage of five free bases handed to them by the Broncs. Four of the five came from junior hurler Cody Cisper (Peggs, OK/Northeastern State Univ.), including three consecutive batters that were hit by pitches.
Matt Mossey and Greg Plecki each received RBI for standing in the line of fire while also rounding the bases to account for another two NDSU runs. In total, the Bison put up six runs on three hits to go up by an early 6-0 mark before Alex Guajardo (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) came in to record the final out and prevent the Bison lead from growing.
After a three scoreless innings, the Broncs were able to put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth frame on a one hit, one error inning. Dominic Tognietti (Katy, TX/James E.Taylor H.S.) rounded the bases after being walked, advancing to second on a fielding error and finally being sent home courtesy of a Matt Guzman (Corpus Christi, TX/UT-San Antonio) RBI single up the middle. Jonathan Hutcherson (Magnolia, TX/Magnolia H.S.) accounted for the other Bronc run of the inning, making it a 6-2 ballgame.
NDSU added to their run total in the top of the eighth inning when Matt Watson hit a solo home run over the left-field wall with two outs, increasing the Bison lead 7-2.
The Bison repeated their eighth-inning performance in the ninth inning when Plecki recorded his second hit, second RBI and second run of the game with a homer over the left-field wall to make the score 8-2.
Despite just four hits on offense from UTPA, Guajardo starred on the hill for the Broncs, pitching a career-high 7.2 innings and striking out a career-high six batters while allowing two runs.
Guzman was the only Bronc to record a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with one RBI while the Bison were led by Plecki with two RBI on 2-for-4 hitting to go along with two runs scored.
NDSU's Jake Laber pitched a four-hit complete game to improve his record to 2-2 on the season while striking out six UTPA batters.
The loss goes to Cisper (0-5) who allowed six Bison runs on two hits in 1.1 innings on the mound while hitting three of the 11 batters faced.
The Broncs return to action in game two of a three-game series against the Bison on Saturday (Mar. 31) with game time scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
UTPA Sports Information
