Feb. 27, 2005
The University of Texas at Arlington completed a three-game sweep of The University of Texas-Pan American baseball team with a pair of victories, 5-4 and 12-2, at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, TX, on Sunday (Feb. 27).
In game one of the doubleheader, the Mavericks stole a win from the Broncs in the final inning when Aaron Batlle connected on a two-run walk-off home run against closer Tim Haines (Mission, TX/Blinn College). UTA, who scored all of its five runs in the last two innings, got the inning started when Scott Williams doubled off the right field fence then got the biggest blast of the game from Batlle.
UTPA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when senior Aaron Flowers (Rowlett, TX/Northeast Texas C.C.) started off the game with a single to center then came around to score on a single from Louie Alamia (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.). Alamia would eventually score on a Matt Eichel (Grapevine, TX/Grapevine H.S.) single up the middle to give the Broncs the early lead.
The Mavericks couldn't touch junior hurler Dane Mason (Marlton, NJ/Oklahoma State University) through seven innings, but tagged him for three runs in the eighth inning before Aaron Guerra (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) came in relief to get the final out. Mason tossed 7.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 10 UTA hitters.
The Broncs took a 4-3 lead against UTA when Zach Smith (Sanger, TX/Sanger H.S.) started off the eighth inning with a double to centerfield then advanced to third off a sacrifice bunt from Ricky Broyles (Longview, TX/Northeast Texas C.C.). Joe B. Gutierrez (McAllen, TX/Laredo C.C.) would eventually bring Smith home on a sacrifice fly to right center.
Alamia and Eichel both added two hits in the game, combining for four of the Broncs' seven total base knocks in the game. Flowers continued his torrid pace as he recorded a hit in 12 of the team's 14 games this season.
Haines suffered the loss for UTPA and dropped his record to 0-2 on the season. Jeremiah Haar picked up the victory for the Mavericks as he tossed two innings, allowing one run on two hits in the process.
Game two didn't pan out much better for the Broncs as UTPA suffered a 12-2, which gave UT - Arlington its 1,000th victory in program history.
The Mavericks used a five-run first inning and a six-run fourth inning to run-rule the Broncs in seven innings. Scott Williams led UTPA with three hits while Justin Stevens and David McLeod each added a pair.
Grant Varnall picked up his second victory of the season, tossing five innings and giving up one run on four hits. He struck out six Bronc hitters in the game.
Alamia and Zach Gordon (Corpus Christi, TX/Midland College) each collected two hits for the Broncs while Flowers connected on his second double of the season.
Chad Linder (Reklaw, TX/Rusk H.S.) suffered the loss as the UTPA sophomore gave up five runs on four hits in the 1/3 innings of action. He was relieved by Bobby Gomez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias H.S.), who gave up four runs in 2.2 innings.
The Broncs dropped to 3-12 on the season while UT - Arlington evened its record at 7-7 with the three-game sweep.
UTPA will be back in action on Saturday (Mar. 5) at the Al Ogletree Classic against Sam Houston State. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information