Box Score

EDINBURG, Texas – In the final home game in the careers of 10 seniors, the University of Texas-Pan American Broncs baseball team pounded out 16 hits for the first time in over a month to beat the Houston Baptist University Huskies 11-1 on Saturday at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
 
The game was called after six and a half innings due to the 10-run rule.
 
The Broncs (29-20, 16-12 GWC) are assured of either the number two or number three seed in the Great West Conference Tournament. If Utah Valley beats Northern Colorado, then the Broncs will be the number two seed.
 
It was the Broncs' biggest scoring output since they scored 14 runs on 19 hits against North Dakota on April 15.
 
Trailing 1-0 after half an inning, the Broncs' bats came alive. The Broncs put two on with two out and senior Mike McCarthy singled to left field. Senior Roger Bernal scored and Mission-native Angel Ibanez broke for third. Catcher Sam Wiggins' throw went into left field, allowing both Ibanez and McCarthy to score to make it 3-1.
 
Senior Richard Bandrich led off the second with his first hit of the year, an infield-single. After a sacrifice bunt, Derek Hagy singled and Bernal hit an RBI-single. Ibanez followed with a two-run triple to make it 6-1.
 
Bernal led off the fourth with a single. Ibanez then singled and the ball was bobbled in center field, allowing Bernal to score to make it 7-1.
 
Shane Klemcke hit an RBI-single in the fifth and Bernal came up with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-1.
 
In the sixth, senior Vincent Mejia doubled and McCarthy hit an RBI-triple. He scored when the next pitch went to the backstop.
 
Bernal, Mejia, McCarthy, Bandrich and fellow senior and Mission-native Iradier Hernandez combined to go 10-for-20 with four RBI and eight runs scored.
 
That made a winner of Nolan Atkins (1-0), who needed just four pitches to retire all three batters he faced in the second.
 
Huskies (24-31, 15-13 GWC) starter Curtis Jones (5-5) got the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks in two innings.
 
The Broncs return to action on Tuesday in the Great West Conference Tournament, hosted by Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah.
 
The University of Texas-Pan American Department of Intercollegiate Athletics competes at the NCAA Division I classification. UTPA, formerly known as Pan American College and Pan American University, is a part of the University of Texas System of Schools. The Broncs compete in 14 varsity sports; men's and women's basketball, golf, tennis, track and field, and cross country, along with women's volleyball and men's baseball. In 1963, then known as Pan American College, the Broncs men's basketball program won the NAIA National Championship with a 73-62 victory over Western Carolina. In 2008 UTPA joined the new all-sports division of the Great West Conference.