Feb. 2, 2006
The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team (1-0) gave the Gonzaga Bulldogs (0-1) a rude welcome to the state of Texas as the Broncs won their season opener on Thursday (Feb. 2) by a score of 8-3.
The Broncs came out swinging in the bottom of the first after holding Gonzaga to no runs on one hit in the top of the inning. UTPA scored three runs in the first frame, highlighted by a Patrick Brooks (Vallejo, CA/Santa Rosa J.C.) double to deep left field that drove in two runs. Blake Whittlesey (Marble Falls, TX/UT-Brownsville) would score on a passed ball during the next at-bat.
Bronc starter Aaron Guerra (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) held the Bulldogs scoreless until the sixth inning when GU outfield Jackson Brennan took a Guerra offering over the left field wall for a home run, making the score 5-1 Broncs. Guerra earned the win, bringing his record to 1-0, with six innings of work, scattering eight hits and two earned runs while striking out three and walking one. Gonzaga starter Clayton Mortensen was sidled with the loss, falling to 0-1 for the season.
The Bulldogs made it interesting, pulling as close as 5-3 heading in to the bottom of the eighth inning. The Broncs responded with a three-run eighth to put the game out of reach. Brooks gathered his fourth and fifth runs batted in of the game with a two-out single. Jason Buhagiar (Penngrove, CA/Santa Rosa J.C.) followed Brooks with an RBI single, scoring Whittlesey and giving the Broncs eight runs.
UTPA had three players finish with multiple hits, including Brooks, who was 3-5. Buhagiar and Leighton Autrey (Stephenville, TX/Navarro J.C.) both collected two hits. Junior second baseman Osiel Flores (Mission, TX/UT-Brownsville) was 1-1 at the plate but reached base in all five of his plate appearances, walking four times.
UTPA returns to the diamond on Friday (Feb. 3) as the UTPA Baseball Classic gets under way. The Broncs play the nightcap on Friday with a game against fellow Independent Northern Colorado at 7:00 p.m. at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
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