Broncs to continue GWC play with new rotation

EDINBURG — UTPA will continue Great West Conference play today at Houston Baptist (10-19, 8-4 GWC) with a new-look starting rotation.

The teams open their four game series at 3 p.m. today, and the Broncs (17-17, 6-6) will have a new ace. Luis Flores will start for the Broncs tonight. The change is only one the Broncs will have to the starting rotation.

A.J. Franco will come out of the bullpen to start the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader followed by Kyle Kotchie in Game 2. Cody Plunk will take the mound for Sunday’s game.

Broncs coach Manny Mantrana said the shakeup comes in the wake of the team’s recent pitching woes. Franco and Kotchie replace Jonathan Delgado and Michael Zouzalik, who were the staff aces at one point this season.

On Tuesday against UT-Brownsville, Mantrana used a different pitcher in every inning because he said he wanted to get the conference rotation set.

“A.J. has been strictly a bullpen guy and Kotchie has been our middle-of-the-week guy,” Mantrana said. “They both have pitched well enough to earn that start.”

He also wanted to use as many pitchers as possible to get them ready for this weekend.

“We needed to make sure they were sharp in case we need to go to the bullpen, which we usually do,” Mantrana said.

WELCOME ABOARD

The women’s basketball and volleyball teams announced new editions to their respective programs this week.

>> Keandra Goodson signed her national letter of intent to join the women’s basketball team from Collin County Community College. Goodson is a 6-foot forward from Desoto, Texas. This past season at Collin County, she was selected to the North Texas Conference first team and the to the All-Region 5 first team after averaging 15.6 points and 7.5 rebounds.

>> Krysta Freitas will join the volleyball team as a freshman from Hanalani High School in Waianae, Hawaii. This past season, Freitas was named to the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II first team and was a Hawaii Volleyball All-State Fab-15 honoree.

>> Ashten Landry will join the volleyball team as a freshman next season. She played for A&M Consolidated High School in College Station. She helped lead her team to the District 12-5A championship and to a 35-10 record in 2010.

SOUTHLAND HONOREES

Junior men’s tennis player Beau Bernstein was named to the Southland Conference first team at No. 2 singles after a 5-0 league record.

Bernstein, along with doubles partner Ashwin Vijayaragavan, was also named to the doubles first team. They were 5-0 in conference and 10-2 this season.

Vijayaragavan, who was named the SLC player of the year last season, was placed on the second team at No. 1 singles. He was 4-1 in conference and 11-4 overall.

PARTING WAYS

Director of golf operation Ofelia Lopez confirmed that Brandon Reyna is no longer with the team. The Sharyland grad, who won the Great West Conference tournament last season, left for unspecified reasons.

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448.