March 19, 2010
The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 7-4 this Friday (Mar. 19) afternoon at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
"Today's win was a good win. We swung the bat well and (Kyle) Kotchie pitched a great game for us," said head coach Manny Mantrana. "We had a couple crazy calls today, but we stayed focused, despite the dilemmas. We had a couple close calls last game and it cost us the game.
"We tried a new lineup today to sharpen up our defense. We are trying to see what fits so that by the time conference rolls around, we have a solid lineup."
The Broncs were off to an early lead scoring runs in the first and third innings before Iowa went up on the board with a single on a costly error by the Broncs LF Bryant Elliot.
Texas-Pan American scored back-to-back runs in the first on RBI singles by Garrett Bivone and Angel Ibanez. Bivone drove in Ryan Vest as Vest reached on a walk and Ibanez drove in Vincent Mejia as Mejia reached on infield hit to third.
The Broncs were back on the board in the third with two runs scored on back-to-back errors by the Hawkeyes.
After reaching safely to first on a single to the left side, Vincent Mejia advanced to third on a single by Angel Ibanez and scored on an error by Iowa's catcher. On the next play, Ibanez scored on another Iowa error, but this time on the second baseman.
With the Broncs up 4-1 heading into the sixth, Iowa's Kurt Lee scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Mcquillan Lee's run went unearned after advancing to second on a fielding error by Broncs RF Alex Carnall.
Texas-Pan American was able to keep the Hawkeyes scoreless in the seventh as Iowa trailed the Broncs by two runs. UTPA extended their lead to 6-4 on a two-run homerun by Vincent Mejia in the bottom of the seventh. The Broncs scored their final run of the evening on a bases loaded balk by Iowa pitcher Ricky Sandquist.
Iowa was able to post two runs in the eighth on a single to the left side by Dallas Burke. Burke scored Kurtis Muller and Kurt Lee.
Third baseman Vincent Mejia finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, three runs scored, and his second homerun of the season. Angel Ibanez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
"Vinny swung the bat really well for us today. He's a great hitter and will only get better as the season progresses," added Mantrana.
Broncs starting pitcher Kyle Kotchie snagged his first win of the season after pitching six innings, striking out two and walking two. Kotchie gave up two runs, both unearned, on two hits. Freshman Guadalupe Barrera also picked up his third save of the season in one and one third innings of work.
Iowa's Jarred Hippen earned the loss and is now 1-2 for the season. Hippen pitched five innings, struck out two, walked one, and gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits.
The Broncs close out the series against Iowa tomorrow (Mar. 20) afternoon in a double-header slated to begin at 1:00.
UTPA Media Relations
