Feb. 22, 2009
On the final day of the three-day round robin style tournament hosted by Texas Tech, the Broncs (0-4) suffered an 8-1 setback to Southern Utah in game one of today's doubleheader and dropped a 10-4 decision to Texas Tech in game two at Dan Law Field.
"The guys are playing hard and we've had one bad inning a game, but once we get that out of the way things will look better," said head coach Manny Mantrana. "We are going to take this past weekend as a preview and see what we are doing well and what they are capable of and make the needed changes for next weekend."
Southern Utah 8, UTPA 1
After facing Southern Utah the night before and suffering a 6-5 loss, the Broncs returned to Dan Law Field and started off with the Broncs lone run in the first on a run scored by Jose Mendoza on a single to right field by Jordan Rutenbar.
The Broncs gave up seven runs in the top of the second and pulled starting pitcher Nathan Molina to put Shane Janecka on the mound. The Thunderbirds scored their last run in the fourth on a single to left field by Zablan bringing in Sanford.
Jose Mendoza finished game one with going 1-for-3 and one run. Nathan Molina (0-1) picked up the loss for the Broncs while the Thunderbirds Johnson picked up the win.
Southern Utah's Zeli'I Zablan was the Thunderbirds top performer going 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI's.
Texas Tech 10, UTPA 4
The Broncs returned to the field two hours after game one and started off their second contest against Texas Tech with right-handed pitcher Anthony Garcia. Garcia was relieved by sophomore AJ Franco in the second after giving up six runs.
UTPA remained quiet until the fourth bringing in two runs on a double by Andrew Perez, but would allow Tech to bring in three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Broncs brought in one more run in the sixth as Esequiel Garza scored on a single to left field by Donaho making the score 9-3.
The Red Raiders would score their last run in the bottom of the sixth. Esequiel Garza would score a second run for the Broncs in the eighth as Perez singled to left field.
Texas Tech's starting pitcher AJ Ramos would grab the win, while the Broncs starting pitcher, Anthony Garcia (0-1) would grab the loss.
Shortstop Andrew Perez finished the night with 2-for-4 with three RBI's while teammate Billy Donaho went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
The Broncs will be back in action this Friday as they host the Al Ogletree Classic on Feb. 27-March 1. The Broncs will face Illinois in Game One with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.
UTPA Sports Information
