Offensive Firepower, Speed on Basepaths Carry Scorpions to 17-5 Victory
Posted March 22, 2008
TYLER -- The big bats and running game were in high gear for UTB/TSC in a 17-5 rout of Texas College in a Red River Athletic Conference South Zone game here Saturday, March 22.

"We played our game today," Scorpion head coach Joel Barta said. "I was glad with the way we responded today after the disappointment on Friday."

The Scorpions had eight stolen bases, doubles by Scott Price and Brian Dombeck, a triple by Ryan MacDonald, and a homer by Dombeck, his third of the season.

UTB/TSC is now 2-1 in RRAC South Zone play and 14-22 overall. The Steers dropped to 1-2 and 9-24.

The Scorpions split a doubleheader Friday, winning the first game on a Julian Moya four-hitter, 7-0, before dropping the second game, 7-5. In the loss, the Scorpions held a 5-3 lead at one point in the game.

"We made some adjustments to play a clean game," Barta said. "We had some opportunities in Friday's game but couldn't cash in with runners in scoring position."

The Scorpions got into attack mode immediately Saturday, scoring three runs in each of the first two innings to take a quick 6-1 lead.\

Domebeck's homer came in the fourth inning, giving the Scorpions a 7-1 lead. The Scorpions added five runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh for the 17-5 lead, which stood up after the bottom of the seventh. The game ended at that point because of the 10-run rule.

Scott Price went 2-for-3 with five RBI, while Dombeck finished with three hits and three RBI. Yousif drove in three runs, and Collins scored three on two hits.

Zach Moya (2-4) was the starting and winning pitcher for the Scorpions, allowing five earned runs in five innings of work.

"Zach is young and still learning and you learned that once you get the bottom third of the order, you have to get into attack mode."

After a 1-15 start to the season, the Scorpions have won 14 out of 21 and have a winning record in conference games after the first weekend.

UTB/TSC, which started a string of nine consecutive road games with the Texas College series, now visits Texas A&M University-International in a non-conference game in Laredo Tuesday, March 25. The Scorpions resume RRAC South Zone play in Austin March 28-29 for a three-game conference series against Huston-Tillotson University.

"If you win two out of three every weekend, you'll be in good shape," Barta said. "We have a big game in Laredo Tuesday and a big series next weekend. We need to respond in the big games."