Box ScoreSACRAMENTO, Calif. – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs baseball team opened Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play with a 4-2 loss to the defending WAC Champion Sacramento State University Hornets on Friday at John Smith Field.
The Hornets (11-9, 1-0 WAC) jumped on senior Broncs (10-9, 0-1 WAC) starter
Blake English (2-2) right away, as, with one out in the first,
Scotty Burcham tripled and
Nathan Lukes followed with a RBI-single. Two batters later, with runners at second and third and two outs,
Dane Fujinaka hit a blooper to center to make it 3-0.
Lukes also added a solo home run in the seventh.
Lukes, Fujinaka and
Gunner Pollman each finished with two hits.
English pitched his second-straight complete game, the sixth of his career, striking out three in eight innings while allowing 10 hits and three walks.
The Broncs got one those runs back against
Brennan Leitao (2-1) in the third, when, with junior
Scott Mercer at second and two outs, junior
Cole Loncar doubled down the left field line to make it 3-1.
The Broncs manufactured a run in the fifth. Mercer drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly ball before scoring on an RBI-groundout by freshman
Isaac Gonzalez to make it 3-2.
That was it against Leitao, who pitched seven innings, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out one.
Sutter McLoughlin pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
The Broncs and Hornets play the middle game of this three-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
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