March 20, 2008
Game Notes - Houston Baptist in PDF Format
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Game Information
×- The University of Texas-Pan American will take a break from the road and host a two-game series at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium against Houston Baptist starting Thursday at 6 p.m.
× - Following Thursday nights home game, the Broncs will match-up against the Huskies on Friday for a 2 p.m. start.
× - The Broncs are coming off a two straight losses against The University of Texas at San Antonio on March 18.
× - The Broncs dropped a 4-1 decision in game one against the Roadrunners then suffered a 16-4 setback in game two.
× - With the two losses, the Broncs dropped their overall record to 5-12.
× - The last meeting between the Broncs and the Huskies was in the 2002 season with UTPA falling short by a 4-2 decision. The Broncs currently hold a 9-4 series lead over the Huskies.
Broncs Drop Two Straight in San Antonio, TX
× - In game one of a two-game series against The University of Texas at San Antonio the Broncs dropped a 4-1 decision and suffered a 16-4 setback in game-two.
× - The Broncs would finish game one collecting only four hits compared to seven for UTSA. Joey Mendoza was the lone Bronc that finished the game 1-for-3 to go with one run scored.
× - Senior Bronc hurler Philip Rodriguez took the loss, pitching six innings while allowing five hits and three earned runs.
× - The Broncs struggled to get anything going in game-two as the Roadrunners collected 20 hits compared to nine for UTPA.
× - A pair of Broncs recorded multi-hit performances in Nick Spears and Joe B Gutierrez. Spears finished the game 2-for-3 to go with two RBI and one run scored while Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with one run scored.
× - Cody Cisper took the loss for the Broncs, pitching 0.1 innings while allowing five hits and five earned runs. With the loss, Cisper fell to 1-3 on the season.
Four Broncs Earn All-Tournament Team Accolades
× - The UTPA baseball team were crowned co-champions of the Hillcrest Ford Classic Tournament and four Broncs were selected to the All-Tournament Team on Sunday (Mar. 9).
× - Newcomers Billy Donaho, Jordan Rutenbar, A.J. Franco and senior Roly Gonzalez were all-tournament team recipients for their outstanding performance in the three day tournament.
× - Donaho finished the tournament with a .545 batting average with four runs scored, four RBI's and a grand slam that came in the fourth inning in a 12-6 victory against Sam Houston State (Mar. 9).
× - Rutenbar recorded a .429 batting average to go with six RBI's and five runs scored in three games. In all three games, Rutenbar posted at least one hit while collecting two RBI's.
× - Gonzalez collected a .467 batting average to go with six stolen bases. The Broncs senior posted eight hits in 14 at bats to go along with six runs scored and a RBI.
× - The most impressive Bronc of the weekend was newcomer A.J. Franco who pitched a complete game in a 6-1 victory against Saint Louis on March 8. Franco improved his record to 2-1 while fanning five batters while only allowed one run.
Former Broncs Head to the Minors
× - After finishing their 2007-08 senior campaign, Osiel Flores, Ray Silva, Patrick Brooks and Chad Linder to the next step in furthering their dreams of playing in the major leagues as all they were signed to minor league contracts.
× - Flores was the first Bronc to sign a free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians and headed to the New York-Penn League which is a short-season Class "A" league.
× - Former third baseman Patrick Brooks signed a free agent deal with the Chicago Cubs and traveled to the Chicago Cub's rookie league in Mesa, AZ.
× - UTPA pitcher Ray Silva signed with the St. Louis Cardinals and made his debut with the Johnson City Cardinals this past summer.
× - Former UTPA pitcher Chad Linder signed with the River City Rascals which is a Division I Independent Baseball team in the Frontier League.
Senior Leadership Key to Successful Season
× - The Broncs enter the 2008 campaign with seven seniors that will lead a entirely new team from the previous season.
× - Cody Cisper, Roly Gonzalez, Jeremy Johnson, Chris Lozano, Philip Rodriguez, Matt Shepherd, and Ruben Shives, Jr. round out the group of seven that will look to finish their final season with a winning record.
× - The seven seniors will use their leadership and experience to lead a team that will consist of four returning letterman, twelve junior college transfers and six freshman.
× - The Broncs have yet to finish above .500 since the 2000 season under the direction of Reggie Tredaway where UTPA collected a 31-19-1 record.
Broncs Host First Annual National Independent Tournament
× - Following the Broncs final three game series versus Texas Christian University, UTPA will close out the season with the National Independent Tournament in Edinburg, TX during the week of May 21-25.
× - Teams that will be featured in the NIT will be Northern Colorado, New York Tech, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Chicago State, and Le Moyne.
× - The tournament seeds will be announced on the Monday prior to the opening of the tournament. The seeds will be determined by record and NCAA RPI.
× - NCAA Regional selections take place on May 26 and the winner has an opportunity for a possible NCAA tournament bid.
Trio of Broncs Earn All-Independent Honors
× - Roly Gonzalez and formers Broncs Ray Silva and Josh Wymer represented the Broncs on the 2007 NCAA Division I All-Independent Baseball Team.
× - Gonzalez finished with a team-high .342 batting average where he collected 54 hits in 158 at-bats to go along with a team-high 20 stolen bases last season.
× - Silva finished his senior campaign with the Broncs with a 1-2 record to go along with a team-high four saves. He recorded a 1-2 record with a 4.08 earned run average in 28.2 innings of action.
× - Wymer was the top vote-getter for the Broncs as the UTPA freshman earned All-Independent Second Team laurels. He finished with a 5-7 record to go with a 3.66 earned run average in 16 starts where he posted four complete games for the Broncs.
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