COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley baseball team fell 7-4 on Wednesday as they were swept at the hands of No. 11 Texas A&M University at Blue Bell Park.
 
UTRGV (10-4) got a good start from junior Josh Witherspoon (0-1) who pitched six innings while allowing six runs, five earned, on eight hits. Three of those runs came in his last inning of work as he took the loss. Texas A&M's bullpen allowed just one run over the final six innings as Corbin Martin got the win after four innings of scoreless baseball.
 
UTRGV once again jumped out in front in the top of the first. Junior Austin Siener reached on a one-out walk and then moved to second on a stolen base. One out later, freshman Anibal Leal delivered an RBI single scoring Siener from third for the 1-0 lead.
 
Junior Ivan Estrella, who finished 2-for-4 in the game, hit a one-out double to get things started in the top of the third. One out later, senior Joseph Collazo hit a two-run home run off of Texas A&M (11-3) starter Kyle Richardson extending their lead to 3-0.
 
Texas A&M answered with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Austin Homan and Logan Foster hit back-to-back singles and then Homan moved to third on a wild pitch. Cole Bedford followed with an RBI single that scored Homan from third and then an error allowed Foster to score making it 3-2 UTRGV.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Blake Kopetsky started the inning with a four-pitch walk and was followed by Jorge Gutierrez who reached after being hit by a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt, Homan drove in Kopetsky from third with an RBI groundout tying the game at three.
 
Texas A&M rallied with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. With runners at second and third, Foster came through with a two-run triple on the eighth pitch of the at-bat to grab the lead. Bedford then followed with an RBI single that scored Foster making it 6-3 Texas A&M.
 
UTRGV got a run on a Siener home run, his second of the season, in the top of the ninth to put a cap on the scoring.
 
UTRGV will open a three-games series on Friday with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as part of the South Texas Showdown, Presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, at UTRGV Baseball Stadium at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised throughout Texas on Spectrum Sports Channel 323. The first 250 fans will receive a South Texas Showdown t-shirt with those who already have t-shirts from an event earlier this year getting a free hot dog voucher at the ticket office.

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