May 21, 2009
On day one of the National Independent Tournament, the Broncs (12-41) faced Northern Colorado in game one and dropped an 18-5 decision and made a comeback in the eighth to defeat the Houston Baptist Huskies 9-8 this Thursday (May 21) at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
"It was a great comeback for the guys," said first-year head coach Manny Mantrana. "Both the offense and defense executed very well and (Mike) Lankford helped keep us in the game."
Northern Colorado 18, UTPA 5
After four scoreless innings, the Broncs posted back-to-back runs in the fifth and sixth.
The Broncs run in the fifth came off a Jose Mendoza double down the left field line allowing Nick Spears to cross the plate. Andrew Perez scored the Broncs second run in the sixth on another double down the left field line.
UTPA gave up two runs in the opening inning followed by an eight-run third and sixth.
The Broncs went through three pitchers on their pitching staff, but it was Tim Tefft who was the pitcher of record as he was tagged with the loss. In eight innings of work, Northern Colorado's Brian Sizemore notched his first win of the season. The Broncs recorded seven doubles against Northern Colorado.
Catcher Nick Spears led the Broncs offensively as he finished 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, two runs and a double.
UTPA 9, Houston Baptist 8
The Broncs gave up five runs in the third and scored a single and a double in the second and fourth respectively to trail the Huskies 5-3 in the top of the fifth.
Both ball clubs then remained scoreless until the top of the sixth when Houston Baptist scored a single run by Nick Homan to lead the Broncs by three with a score of 6-3.
The Broncs came back in the bottom of the sixth as the Broncs scored two runs to trail the Huskies 6-5. Iradier Hernandez scored on a RBI single to right by Ryan Vest, while Vest crossed the plate on a single to left by Jose Mendoza.
The Broncs made things a little interesting in the bottom of the seventh as they tied the score at six as Andrew Perez reached on an error by the shortstop allowing Garrett Bivone to score.
Houston Baptist's pitching staff struggled in the eighth as they gave up three runs on three hits. With those three runs, the Broncs led the Huskies 9-6. The Broncs recorded runs from Abraham Garcia, Jose Mendoza and Bonham Hough.
In their last chance to take control, Houston Baptist scored two runs but wasn't enough as the Broncs earned their 12th win of the season on a 9-8 victory over the Huskies.
Junior Mike Lankford picked up his second win of the season in eight innings of work, while Doug Roth grabbed his first save of the season. Houston Baptist's starting pitcher Hunter Scott (4-4) was tagged with the loss for the Huskies.
Lankford struck out a career-high seven batters while only walking four and giving up six runs on eight hits. In game two on the first day of the National Independent Tournament, Ryan Vest led the Broncs offensively as he finished 3-for-5 with one RBI and three runs. Iradier Hernandez added a 2-for-4 plate appearance along with two runs and a double.
Day two of the National Independent Tournament will be a double-header for Houston Baptist as they face Northern Colorado at 3:00 p.m. and UTPA at 7:00 p.m. at Edinburg Baseball Stadium
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