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Game Notes

Bracket

OREM, Utah -- The second-seeded University of Texas-Pan American Broncs baseball team (29-20, 16-12 Great West Conference) opens up the Great West Conference Tournament, hosted by Utah Valley University, against the seventh-seeded Chicago State University Cougars (12-38, 9-19 GWC) on Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. CT at Brent Brown Ballpark.

What You Need to Know

#2 Broncs vs. #7 Chicago State University Cougars (5/22/12)

• The Broncs are 2-3 all-time in the Great West Conference Tournament, going 2-1 in 2010 and 0-2 last year.

• Including their time in the American South Conference (1988-91), the Sun Belt (1992-98) and the Great West (2010-Present), the Broncs are 5-10 all-time in conference tournaments.

• The Broncs were 1958 Co-Big State Conference Champions when they were still a part of the NAIA.

• The Broncs have made 13 NCAA Tournament Appearances and one College World Series appearance.

• Broncs head coach Manny Mantrana has led his teams to five conference championships.

• This is the 13^th meeting all-time between the Broncs and Wolverines in a series dating back to the start of the Great West Conference in 2010. The Broncs are 9-3 all-time against the Cougars.

• This is the Broncs' first game against the Cougars during the Great West Conference Tournament.

• With 29 wins, the Broncs have their highest win total since 2000, when the Broncs won 31 games under Reggie Tredaway.

• Roger Bernal is seventh in the NCAA in hitting with a .421 batting average. Utah Valley's Goose Kallunki is fourth at .429 and Chicago State's Albert Carpen is eighth at .416. The Great West Conference is the only conference that boasts three of the top eight hitters in the nation.

• Roger Bernal is trying to become the fifth Bronc to ever hit .400 or better in a season. The last Bronc to do it was Garrett Blvone, who hit .428 in 2010, the second highest mark in program history.

• Roger Bernal has hits in 43-of-48 games (89.6%), including 28 multi-hit games. He has had 17 two-hit games, nine three-hits games and three four-hit games.

NCAA Leaderboard

Individual Batting Average

1. Ralph Rhymes, LSU, .469 (92-196)
2. Danny Poma, Hofstra, .435 (97-223)
3. Michael Felton, Campbell, .431 (100-232)
4. Goose Kallunki, Utah Valley, .429 (91-212)
5. Trenton Moses, Southeastern Mo. St., .426 (84-197)
6. D.J. Peterson, New Mexico, .422 (94-223)
7. Roger Bernal, UTPA, .421 (88-209)
8. Albert Carpen, Chicago State, .416 (72-173)
9. Thomas Brown, Grambling, .410 (71-173)
10. Matt Honchel, Miami (OH), .401 (87-217)
11. Adam McClain, Memphis, .400 (86-215)
12. Patrick Kivlehan, Rutgers, .399 (73-183)
13. Andrew Deeds, Morehead State, .399 (85-213)
14. Jayce Boyd, Florida State, .399 (83-208)

Last Time Out

Broncs vs. Houston Baptist University Huskies (5/19/12)

• In their final home game of the season, the Broncs beat the Huskies 11-1 in a game that was called after six and a half innings.

• It was the eighth time this season and first time since April 6 that the Broncs have won by virtue of the 10-run rule.

• The Broncs scored 11 runs on 16 hits, their largest offensive output since scoring 14 runs on 19 hits against North Dakota on April 15.

• The Broncs started five senior position players, Roger Bernal, Vincent Mejia, Mike McCarthy, Iradier Hernandez and Richard Bandrich, who combined to go 10-for-20 with four RBI and eight runs scored.

• Richard Bandrich reached on an infield-single in his first at-bat, his first hit of the season. He also scored a career-high tying two runs.

• Will Klausing and Roger Bernal each made their season debuts on the mound. Klausing pitched a scoreless sixth inning while Bernal struck out one in a scoreless seventh.

• Nolan Atkins recorded his first win of the season by retiring all three batters he faced in the second on just four pitches.

Season Series vs. Chicago State

Broncs @ Chicago State University Cougars (2) (4/28/12)

• Using a completely different lineup from their first 35 games, the Broncs beat the Cougars 9-5.

• Inserted into the leadoff spot for the first time this season, Roger Bernal, who hit second in each of the Broncs' first 35 games, went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Derek Hagy, who had been hitting leadoff, moved into the cleanup spot and went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. Adrian de la Rosa, who had generally hit near the bottom of the order, was in the number five spot and went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

• Roger Bernal went 9-for-17 (.529) in the series.

• Luis Flores earned his first win of the season with a season-high five innings of relief, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out a season-high four.

 
Broncs @ Chicago State University Cougars (1) (4/28/12)

• The Broncs were shutout for just the second time this season in a 3-0 loss to the Cougars.

• It was the Broncs' first loss this season when allowing three runs or fewer. They had previously been 13-0 in such games.

• Jonathan Sa pitched his first-career complete game, going a career-high eight innings and recording a career-high eight strikeouts.

• Roger Bernal went 2-for-4 for the third straight game, accounting for half of the Broncs' hits.

 
Broncs @ Chicago State University Cougars (2) (4/27/12)

• The Broncs fell to the Cougars 4-1.

• It was the Broncs' first loss this season when allowing six runs or fewer. They had previously been 18-0 in such games.

• Dusten Knight recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts while allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings.

• Roger Bernal picked up his second-straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.

• Chris Torres had the Broncs' lone RBI, with a groundout that scored Vincent Mejia in the eighth.

 
Broncs @ Chicago State University Cougars (1) (4/27/12)

• The Broncs won a doubleheader road game for the first time this season, 5-3 over the Cougars.

• Michael and Zach Zouzalik combined to pitch 5.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out seven while allowing two hits and two walks. Michael got the win while striking out a season-high and career-high tying six in 4.1 innings while Zach recorded the save with a scoreless seventh. It was Zach's first save of the season and the second of his career. It was the first time that one Zouzalik brother got a win and the other got a save in the same game. It was the fourth time this season that the Zouzalik brothers pitched in the same game and third time Zach relieved Michael.

• The top three sports in the Broncs' batting order combined to go 6-for-12 with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. Derek Hagy went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored, Roger Bernal went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored and Angel Ibanez went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored.

Next Up

The winner of this game will advance to face the winner of the game between third-seeded NJIT and sixth-seeded North Dakota on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. The losers of the two games will face off in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m.