Aggies Slug Three Home Runs Saturday

ggie Bats Pound Out Three Homers
By Laura Nelson on 03/16/2013

Goodwell, Okla.-Aggie fans watched a total of five home runs hit during an
exciting nine innings Saturday afternoon as the Oklahoma Panhandle State
University baseball team took on the University of Texas of the Permian
Basin in the final game of the series.

Although neither team scored in the first inning, UTPB came out in the
second to score four runs. OPSU’s leadoff batter Nick Crosswhite singled and
then Alfonso Gonzalez stepped up to the plate, and with the count at 2-2,
smacked a home run over the left field fence to get two RBIs. Ruben Aguirre
followed that with a one-out double, and then made it safely home on an
error to make the score 4-3 at the end of two innings. UTPB’s Jordyn Van
Atta hit a solo homer and then the Falcons got another to add two more runs
in the top of the third. In the Aggie half of the third, Payton Osbon
singled, and then Nick Crosswhite crushed the second OPSU home run. UTPB led
6-5 after three innings of play.

After the Falcons scored a single run in the fourth, UTPB’s pitcher walked
Bo Ybarra, who then advanced to third on an error and scored on a Jordan
Bernal single. UTPB loaded the bases in the fifth and would have scored a
run, but pitcher Freezy Smalls threw the third base runner out at home for
the second out and the next batter flied out to center field. When the
Aggies came up to bat, Gonzalez got on base with a single, and then Ruben
Aguirre pounded a two-out homer that put the Aggies ahead 8-7.

UTPB loaded the bases again in the sixth, but OPSU held them scoreless.
Robert Montoya doubled, but was left stranded heading into the seventh
inning. Josh Land relieved Smalls on the mound, and the first batter he
faced, Nelson Quintero, hit the first pitch, sending it over the fence for a
solo home run to tie the score at eight all. Both teams had scoring
opportunities in the eighth, but neither sent runners home.

With fans and players in both dugouts getting louder with each pitch, UTPB’s
Ryne Head hit a one-out single and the next batter flied out, but the
Falcons loaded the bases. Closer Nick Chavez came into pitch for the Aggies,
but an OPSU error scored two unearned runs. Chavez struck out the next
batter for the third out. Leadoff Crosswhite grounded out and the Falcon’s
closing pitcher walked Gonzalez. After Davis Bradley struck out, Gonzalez
advanced to second a passed ball and then Aguirre and Ybarra both walked to
load the bases, but the Aggies did not get another hit and took the 10-8
loss.

For the game, Crosswhite, Gonzalez, and Aguirre each had two hits for four
at-bats and two RBIs. Starting pitcher Freezy Smalls scattered 10 hits and
struck out three in six innings of work. Reliever Mitch Provolt was given
the loss.

The team takes to the road for a single game in Denver against Colorado
Christian on Mar. 19, and then they are back home Mar. 22-23 for a
three-game series against McMurry. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.
with a single game on Saturday at 1.