RGV Capsules: Scorpions beaten by Broncs
EDINBURG - Nothing went right for the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College as The University of Texas-Pan American won 13-1 in a seven-inning game shortened by the 10-run rule Tuesday at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
UTPA was playing its first game of the season, and UTB-TSC is 11-6. The Broncs, who are the first NCAA Division I opponent for the Scorpions this year, will be in Brownsville to face UTB-TSC on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The Broncs scored two runs in the first inning and six in the second inning, with the last two runs coming on a two-run home run by Mike McCarthy.
The linescore after two innings showed UTPA with eight runs on three hits, and UTB-TSC with no runs and three hits. Only four of the first UTPA runs were earned with the help of three Scorpion errors.
"We played as if we were scared, as if we were afraid to win," Scorpions coach Bryan Aughney said. "Then when we got behind, we quit."
The Broncs added one run in the fifth and four in the sixth. The lone Scorpions run came in the seventh inning, when Ricardo Alanis doubled down the right-field line and scored on Joel Fernandez' single.
Ryan Moye, the first of four Scorpions pitchers, absorbed the loss. Mitch Schaafsma, Baylr Bickerton and Sam Buchanan also pitched. Combined, Scorpion pitching struck out one, walked six and hit five Broncs.
UTB-TSC will return home for a four-game Red River Athletic Conference series against Huston-Tillotson University. The two teams play a doubleheaders at 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. The final game of the series will be a non-conference meeting.
The Scorpions lead the RRAC race with a 6-0 record. HTU is 2-3, 0-1 in conference.
Hockey
Bees try to move on from Texas incident
McALLEN — Aaron Boogaard regrets what happened and wants to move on. So do Brady Leavold, Terry Ruskowski and the Central Hockey League.
One day after Boogaard was suspended six games for punching freelance photographer Robert Keith in North Richland Hills, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees forward wasn’t proud the incident and wished he hadn’t punched Keith.
“There’s a lot of stuff that went on there that… there’s a lot of speculation going on about what’s going on,” Boogaard said. “Everybody on our bench knows what happened. I’m obviously at fault, as well as other parties who accepted the blame, too. It’s unfortunate what happened.”
What is known is that Leavold and Keith spent much of the game exchanging verbal barbs. After Leavold placed his stick by Keith’s face for a second time, Keith grabbed it, leading to Boogaard’s actions during the third period. That then resulted in a beverage being thrown at Ruskowski and a cowbell at the Bees’ bench.
Boogaard was suspended for six games, counting the one he missed Saturday against the Brahmas. Some observers expected that total to be higher, others like Ruskowski thought it would be four or five games.
Either way, the Bees will be shorthanded until March 3.
“We’ve kind of made it a policy not to talk about our determining factors. They are well-stipulated and spelled out within the notice of action itself,” said Jim Wiley, the CHL’s director of hockey operations. “So all the teams understand the variables that were considered.
“Respectfully stated, we’re looking just to move forward. We’re not discussing this publicly,” he added. “It’s just fully designed for the idea of what people needed to know from each organization’s standpoint is exactly what was stated in the notice of action.”
Clearly, there was little precedent in the CHL for what happened. There was also the consideration that Leavold and Keith spent much of the game trading comments, with neither side distinguishing itself.
Leavold acknowledged Tuesday he probably shouldn’t have paid as much attention to a photographer.
“Looking back, I can’t be wasting my time with a photographer,” Leavold said. “He knows he was out of line. I read some of the articles and my apologies, too. I was out of line as well.
“Looking back, I really think the refs were warned about it and it continued to happen so it was kind of out of our control,” Leavold added. “He kept talking. I kept talking. We’re both guilty and that’s just kind of the way it goes sometimes.”
Something like this is probably not what the Bees (20-24-7) need right now. They’re winless in their last six, four points out of the last playoff spot and tonight face a Laredo (19-28-1) team they’ve struggled to beat.
But this is what they’ve got because of an incident all regret.
“It’s not good for us, it’s not good for the league, it’s not good for the Brahmas,” Ruskowski said. “That’s something that should never, ever happen. We’ve got to control our temper. We’ve got to know the scenario and be more mindful of that and control ourselves a lot better than we did.”
Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.
