By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Lopez used a big inning to turn a close game into one out of reach against St. Joseph Academy.
With a 5-3 lead in the fourth inning, the Lobos exploded for 13 runs to pull away from the Bloodhounds in an 18-3 victory in a non-district game Friday at Lopez.
Marco Ibarra led the offensive explosion going 2 for 3 with a walk and a pair of singles, three runs scored and 3 RBIs for Lopez in its biggest offensive output of the season.
“Everybody is contributing, that’s what I like about us,” he said. “We don’t have to rely on just one guy, it’s everybody.”
It was more than enough for starting pitcher Sebastian Mujica, who went four innings and allowed three runs on one hit, walked five and struck out five and earned the win for Lopez.
Ibarra got the Lobos started quickly in the bottom half of the first. After Alex Olguin singled to right and stole second base, he reached third on a wild pitch. Ibarra promptly hit a single to center to score Olguin and give Lopez a 1-0 lead. Ibarra would later score on a wild pitch and the Lobos took a 2-0 edge.
After a scoreless second inning, St. Joseph took a 3-2 advantage on a base-clearing double by Arturo Trevino in the third inning.
In the bottom half of the third, Lopez retook the lead, 5-3, with three runs across the plate, including an RBI-single by Andres Hernandez.
The Lobos poured on the runs in the fourth, a pair of two-run singles by Olguin and Hernandez helped knock St. Joseph’s starter Carlos Esteve out and Lopez did more damage against reliever Senad Dervisevic, it scored five more times, including a two-run single by Ibarra to pull away in the run-shortened game.
“It was close early on and we were just trying to get a quality at-bats,” Lopez coach Victor Martinez said. “We started seeing the ball a little better and take it to the opposite field, staying back on that off speed and things got better for us.
“They got to (Esteve) and just kept going … they got hungry and that’s the way it has to be every game.”
Although the Bloodhounds were in the game early, mental mistakes during the fourth inning was all it took for it to unravel.
“We had one bad inning,” St. Joseph coach Steven Najera said. “When a couple things don’t go our way, instead of the wheels coming off, that’s when we have to bucket down and pick each other up. We have to have the attitude that we’re going to take it one out at a time.”
Luckily, St. Joseph doesn’t have to long to redeem itself with a game today against Corpus Christi John Paul II.
“We’re still learning how to win, how to compete,” Najera said. “A game like this tests your resolve and as a player it shows what you’re made of and how you bounce back from this.
“We’re going to put our best foot forward (today) and forget this game.”
Lopez hopes its offensive output continues as District 32-5A resumes play next week.
“We were down and I told the kids between innings we have to keep working and find a pitch we can drive,” Martinez said. “We put up some quality at-bats and it showed at the end.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.