Edinburg ---- Houston Baptist University finished off its first season of transition back to NCAA Division I, routing host University of Texas-Pan American 14-4 at the National Independent Tournament at Edinburg Stadium.
HBU got a five-hit outing from Andrew Taccolini and seven RBI from Ryan Majewski in beating the Broncs for the first time in three meetings this season.
After Greg Gossett reached on an error to start the ballgame and Chad Hebert fouled out, the Huskies got seven straight base-hits, resulting in a six-spot.
Majewski and Jackson had two-run singles in the inning, with Richard Orange and Aaron Bazan providing the other RBI.
UTPA touched up Matthew Headley in the first, cutting the lead in half, but HBU would respond in the fourth with four more runs. Majewski again had a two-run single while Gossett and Hebert each drew bases-loaded walks to push the lead to 10-4.
In the fifth, the Huskies got two runs, both again off the bat of Majewski, who laced his third two-RBI hit of the game to give HBU a 12-4 advantage.
HBU got two more in the ninth as Schiro reached on a fielder's choice to score Hebert and Taccolini came in on a sacrifice fly by Majewski.
Taccolini posted the second five-hit game of his career by going 5-6 on the evening. He finished just short in his bid for the batting average in HBU single-season history, as he ended at .460, one point shy of Archie Panfilli's .461 mark set in 2005.
Majewski went 3-5 with two runs and a career-high seven RBI. Josh Jackson went 2-5 with two RBI and Schiro went 2-5 with two runs and an RBI. Richard Orange scored three times and Bazan finished 2-4 with an RBI.
Matthew Headley picked up the victory to even his record at 4-4 on the season. He went six innings, allowing five hits and four runs while walking six with six strikeouts. Keith Brunson and Jordan Hook finished off the game with three scoreless innings.
HBU ends the season 23-24 overall. Both Andrew Taccolini and Aaron Bazan were named to the Independent Tournament All-Tournament team in which the Huskies went 2-2. Houston Baptist loses nine seniors off this year's squad.
