SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team fell to the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 6-5 on Tuesday at Sullivan Field.
 
Senior Scott Mercer led the Vaqueros (10-11) by going a career-high tying 3-for-5 with his first-career home run and three RBI. The home run was a no doubt shot over the left field wall in the second that gave the Vaqueros a 1-0 lead.
 
Mercer followed that up with an RBI-single as part of a two-run rally to give the Vaqueros a 3-2 lead in the fifth and an RBI-single to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 4-2 in the seventh.
 
The Cardinals (6-19) rallied back with two outs in the seventh, as Eddy Gonzalez and Austin Hoffman singled to set-up a game-tying double by Brance Kahle. Then, after a walk, Braden Martin hit an RBI-double off of senior Parker Gallegos (1-1) to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.
 
The Cardinals added an insurance run on a two-out triple by Hoffman in the eighth. All six Cardinals runs, including the two that scored on a double by Christian Divelbiss in the fourth, scored with two outs.
 
That made a winner of Lance Moszkowicz (1-2), who allowed two runs on two hits while striking out four in 3.1 innings of relief.
 
John Shull stranded runners at second and third in the ninth for his first save.
 
Sophomore Robert Quinonez started for the Vaqueros, racking up a season-high seven strikeouts in a season-high 6.2 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits.
 
The Vaqueros open Western Athletic Conference play on Friday at 7 p.m. when they host New Mexico State for the start of a three-game series on Mystery Giveaway Night at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. The game will be broadcast live throughout Texas on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (323). Gates open at 6.

Support UTRGV Baseball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube