April 7, 2007
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team dropped both games in a doubleheader on Saturday (Apr. 7) as the University of Northern Colorado concluded a sweep of the Broncs in a three-game series in Greeley, CO, at Jackson Field.
The Broncs dropped to 13-25 on the season after the trio of road setbacks.
Game One
The Broncs dropped the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday when they gave up two runs in the ninth inning in an 8-7 road setback to the Bears.
After giving up two runs in the first inning, the Broncs took the lead in the top of the fourth frame when Nick Bourn (San Antonio, TX/Warren H.S.) reached on a fielder's choice that drove in Patrick Brooks (Vallejo, CA/Santa Rosa J.C.) from third base. Abraham Garcia (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) followed the Bourn's RBI with by driving in pair of runs on a single to centerfield, putting UTPA up by a 3-2 margin.
The Bears knotted game at three runs apiece in the bottom of the fourth, but the Broncs reclaimed the lead on a Jeremy Johnson (League City, TX/Alvin J.C.) single to the short stop that plated Dominic Tognietti (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) to make the score 4-3.
The Broncs gave up the lead once again in the bottom of the fifth inning when they gave up two runs on five hits, giving Northern Colorado a 5-4 advantage.
UTPA once again reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Matt Guzman (Corpus Christi, TX/UT-San Antonio) fielder's choice to second base plated Blake Whittlesey (Marble Falls, TX/UT-Brownsville) before a Jerrod Dugas (Orange, TX/Little Cypress-Mauriceville H.S.) double brought home a pair of Bronc base runners, giving the Broncs a 7-6 lead.
The Broncs finished the game giving up three unanswered runs, including a two run ninth inning that claimed the victory for the Bears at 8-7.
Northern Colorado's Tyler Pearson improved to 1-4 on the season with the win while UTPA's Ray Silva (Clearlake, CA/Santa Rosa J.C.) got the loss, dropping to 1-1 on the season.
Despite out-hitting the Bears by a 17-15 margin, the Broncs had three miscues in defeat. Jeremy Johnson (League City, TX/Alvin J.C.) went 4-for-4 on the day to go along with one RBI and one run scored. A trio of Broncs recorded three hits each in Osiel Flores (Mission, TX/UT-Brownsville), Brooks and Dugas.
Game Two
The Broncs followed the tough loss in game one of the doubleheader with another road setback against Northern Colorado by a score of 9-2.
The Broncs took an early one-run lead in the first inning when a Brooks RBI single to centerfield plated Dugas who originally reached base on a single through the right side of the infield.
The Bears scored four runs on three hits in the bottom of the third inning which would eventually be the game-decider. In his first game back, starting pitcher Chad Linder (Reklaw, TX/Rusk H.S.) gave up a pair of extra-base hits in the inning. Linder got the loss in his four-inning performance in which he gave up five hits and three earned runs to go along with two walked batters and zero strikeouts.
The Broncs equaled the number of hits as the Bears with 10 apiece, but left 10 runners stranded on base compared the Northern Colorado's five.
The Bears went on to score two runs in each the fourth and eighth innings that book-ended a one run fifth frame.
Dugas had another big game at the plate for the Broncs, picking up a 3-for-5 performance while adding one RBI and scoring another.
Northern Colorado starting hurler Matt Collins improved to 1-1 on the season with his seven-hit six inning performance in which he struck up four Bronc batters while teammate Eric Skufca recorded his first save of the season. Skufca pitched three innings, throwing 41 pitches with 31 going for strikes.
The Broncs return to action when they head back to the Lone Star State for a pair of games against Texas State in San Marcos, TX, beginning on Tuesday (Apr. 10) with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
