Lorencz dominant in Broncbusters one-run loss to Colby

Garden City, KS-Matthew Lorencz was as good as advertised on Thursday except for one blip in the sixth. And unfortunately, the redshirt freshman's final tally doesn't even begin to tell the story, one in which he silenced the Trojan hitters for five innings.  

Gavin Galenza ripped a game-tying home run in the sixth, Aaron Vulcano collected three hits, and Colby evened the series with a 4-3 victory over Garden City at Williams Stadium. The loss dropped the Broncbusters to 3-13 overall and 1-1 in conference play. 

Still, Lorencz's performance gave first-year coach, Caleb Cox a glimpse into the potential of his rookie left-hander. He struck out three in the first, worked around a leadoff single in the second, pitched a one-two-three third, and escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the fourth by striking out Nick Hosie and getting Andrew Major to bounce out to short. He was perfect in the fifth before Galenza blasted a 3-1 fastball over the wall in left to tie the game in the sixth. 

"He (Lorencz) was very good today," Cox said afterwards. "He really mixed his pitches well. It's just unfortunate that really one pitch cost him."

The Broncbusters, which took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Konner Hatfield laid down a perfect bunt single that scored Brett Barber from second, struggled to get anything going offensively. They stranded four and managed just two hits with runners in scoring position. 

Meanwhile, with the game deadlocked in the eighth, Lorencz issued back-to-back walks to Alex Ellert and Galenza. Two batters later, Hosie singled home the go-ahead run to center. Vulcano followed with an RBI base hit, and reliever Levi Tucker issued a bases-loaded free pass to make it 4-1.  

Garden City managed to scratch two runs across in the bottom half. But with the tying run at first with two outs, Quinn Gundelfinger struck out swinging.  

Lorencz, which dropped to 0-4 on the hill this season, allowed four runs on four hits in 7.1 innings for Garden City. He struck out five and walked two. 

Tyler Smith notched the win for Colby, yielding just two earned runs on four hits in seven innings. Carter Roth recorded the save.