March 10, 2010
Final Stats
In just three hours and 22 minutes, the Texas-Pan American baseball program defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-4 at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,712 fans.
"The guys played really well today. Pitching was where we needed it to be and we swung well; our defense played steady. Overall, we have things we need to clean up, but after 10 games, I like where we are at and where we are headed," said head coach Manny Mantrana.
Texas-Pan American held back Notre Dame as the Irish never held a lead throughout the nine-inning contest.
The Broncs were off to an early lead with four runs scored in the bottom of the third. Garrett Bivone drove in three runs on a double to right center. Bivone finished the evening 2-for-5 with five RBIs, a double, and a run scored.
The Irish came within one in the top of the fourth after scoring back-to-back-to-back runs. Broncs starting pitcher Leo Change gave up two singles and a double to score Notre Dame's Ryan Connelly, Matt Grosso, and David Casey.
UTPA then extended their lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Vincent Mejia was walked as he led off the inning and Garrett Bivone doubled to center to drive in Mejia. Bivone was then able to score on a ground out to shortstop by CF Stuart MacInnes.
The Fighting Irish struggled against the Broncs pitching staff and were only able to score a lone run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to left field driving in Frank Desico.
The Broncs put up four more runs in the seventh and eighth innings with a single in the seventh by Bryant Elliott and three runs in the eighth. Bryant Elliott homered down the left field line driving in Jose Mendoza. Three batters later, Abraham Garcia scored on a RBI single to center by Vincent Mejia.
Texas-Pan American scored 10 runs on seven hits, while Notre Dame scored four runs on nine hits. UTPA's Scott Wingo picked up his second win of the season with two innings of work. Wingo gave up no runs on three hits. Notre Dame's starting pitcher Patrick Veerkamp notched his first loss of the season with two and two-thirds innings pitched.
Leadoff hitter Bryant Elliott finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, three runs, and a double. Vincent Mejia went 1-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and runs.
The Broncs next host the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on Tuesday, Mar. 16 in a double-header. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.
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