May 9, 2010
Final Stats
After letting the first three games of the series slip away, the Broncs defended their grounds and defeated the Houston Baptist Huskies 7-4 this Mother's Day (May 9) at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
The Broncs snapped a nine-game losing streak after shutting out NJIT on April 24, but redeemed themselves with Sunday's victory. The win improves the Broncs to 15-29 for the season and 4-15 in Great West Conference action, while the Huskies drop to 22-25 overall and 12-8 in conference play.
"Today's win was a team effort. Everybody did their part and pulled together as a team," said head coach Manny Mantrana.
"Flores did a great job for us on the mound holding them (HBU) back and Abe's home run in the second was huge for us; it kept our momentum going. Today, things went our way"
Jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first two frames, Houston Baptist jumped onboard late in the game scoring singles in the fifth through eighth innings. In just his fourth start of the season, Luis Flores held on through in 6 1/3 innings of work as he only gave up three Husky runs, one of which went unanswered. Flores earned his second win of the season and is now 2-1 for the season.
Texas-Pan American opened up the contest with a single in the first frame on a RBI double by Garrett Bivone. The Broncs four-run second gave them the 5-0 lead on back-to-back plays. With runners on first and second, Angel Ibanez singled to left scoring Bryant Elliott. On the next play, Abraham Garcia hit a three-run shot to left on a 1-0 count. Garcia hit his third home run of the season and finished 1-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
The Broncs scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to lead 7-1 on RBI singles by Angel Ibanez and Ryan Vest. Ibanez led the Broncs offensively going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Ibanez also extended his hitting streak to 13.
Leading the Huskies was Robbie Buller as he finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and two doubles. Starting pitcher Chase Hernandez (2-3) was tagged with the loss, his third this season. Hernandez pitched four innings and gave up all seven Bronc runs.
With the season winding down, the Broncs have two more conference series with Chicago State (May 14-16) on the road and the final home series of the season against NYIT (May 21-22). Texas-Pan American will host the 2010 Great West Conference Championship beginning May 26, 2010.
UTPA Media Relations
