Scorpions Split Doubleheader; End Week with 4-5 Record
Posted March 8, 2008
Antonio Lerma and Jon Ali combined to scatter seven hits without an earned run to lead UTB/TSC to an 8-3 victory over Viterbo University (Wis.) and a split of their doubleheader Saturday, March 8, at Scorpion Field.

In a three-hour second game, Viterbo scored 11 runs in the first three innings and held off the Scorpions, 14-12.

The doubleheader marked the end of a marathon week for the Scorpions, who finished with a 4-5 record over nine games played within seven days. UTB/TSC was 2-3 against Viterbo and 2-2 against Valley City State College (N.D.). Both universities were visiting South Texas during their Spring Breaks.

Viterbo is now 8-2 while the Scorpions are 5-20. The Scorpions started the week with a 1-15 record after playing some pretty strong competition.

“We started the year playing the best in the country with very little room for error,” Scorpion head coach Joel Barta said. “Now we’re starting to find ourselves, and settled into a lineup. We spent a lot of time finding the right combinations.”

A bright spot during the week for the Scorpions was the pitching of Julian Moya, who pitched 15 innings during the week, allowing three earned runs for a 1.80 ERA. He won two games as a starting pitcher, and won another in relief work.

“Julian is acting like our number one pitcher should act, his mound presence is pretty strong,” Barta said. “We play different when he’s on the mound, and you see that from his teammates.”

UTB/TSC has three days off before starting another marathon stretch of eight games within a seven-day span from March 12-18 before going on the road.

Scorpions 8, Vikings 3 (first game)

Lerma (2-4) pitched five and one-thirds innings, allowing seven hits, and Ali finished the final one and two-thirds innings. The Scorpions came back from a 3-0 deficit to score eight unanswered runs.

Tyler O’Neal had three hits and drove in three runs for the Scorpions, while Brian Dombeck had two hits. The Scorpions out-hit the Vikings, 9-7.

Vikings 14, Scorpions 12 (second game)

In a marathon game that featured 28 hits, Viterbo scored four times in the first and second innings, and three in the third. UTB/TSC took the lead in the bottom of the first, 6-4, but lost it the lead in the second inning.

Catcher Gilbert Puente cracked a three-run homer in the six-run first inning, his first blast of the year. He also drove in four runs.

Schaune Collins and Dombeck had two hits each, while Dombeck, Tyler O’Neal, Ignacio Celedon and Collins each scored twice for the Scorpions.

Jesus Mendoza, the second of six Scorpion pitchers, was the losing pitcher.