Feb. 20, 2009

For the season opener, the Broncs (0-1) traveled to Lubbock, TX for a three-day round robin tournament to face the Red Raiders of Texas Tech on the first day and dropped a close 6-5 decision this Friday (Feb. 20) afternoon at Dan Law Field.

The Broncs started off with left-handed pitcher Doug Roth on the mound, who pitched three and two-third innings and gave up one run in the second.

The Broncs answered back in the fourth as they brought in two runs, one from Abraham Garcia after Jordan Rutenbar reached on a fielder's choice and the other from Jordan Rutenbar after Nick Spears singled up the middle.

Texas Tech came back with four more run in the bottom of the fourth to close out the inning. But the Broncs put up one more run in the fifth on a run scored by Andrew Perez after Jose Mendoza singled to right center for an RBI to make the score 5-3 Tech.

The Broncs managed to close out the bottom of the fifth with no runs for the Raiders. The next inning would be scoreless for both teams but the Broncs broke the silence with two more runs in the seventh to tie the score at five. Junior Bonham Hough scored one of the runs after Perez grounded out to short and the next run came from catcher Nick Spears on a single by Mendoza.

Tech made the final run in the bottom of the seventh and quickly ended the final innings of play.

Jose Mendoza and Abraham Garcia both finished the night 2-for-4 with Mendoza earning two RBI's.

Texas Tech's Willie Rueda finished the night 3-for-5 and third baseman Justin Berry went 2-for-4 with one RBI.

The Broncs will be back in action tomorrow (Feb. 21) morning as they face Southern Utah (0-1) at 11:00 a.m. at Dan Law Field.

UTPA Sports Information