CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team evened up the season series against Chicago State University (CSU) at one game apiece with an 8-4 victory on Saturday at Cougar Stadium.
 
Junior Anthony Gomez led UTRGV (22-28, 7-13 WAC) offensively by going 2-for-5 with a double, a career-high three RBI and a run scored. Freshman Zach Parks went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
 
Parks gave UTRGV a 1-0 lead against Joe Fitka (1-4) in the second on a two-out single.
 
Then, in the second, junior Ryan Fish drew a leadoff walk ahead of a Gomez RBI-double. One out later, sophomore Coleman Grubbs hit an RBI-single, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by senior Austin Siener to put UTRGV up 4-0.
 
UTRGV added three runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Gomez and an RBI-fielder's choice by sophomore Elijah Alexander to make the score 7-1.
 
That made a winner of junior Chase Adams (5-4), who allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out six in seven innings.
 
CSU (11-38, 5-15 WAC) got on the board in the third on an RBI-single by Zach Thomas.
 
Jacob Vanitvelt hit a two-run home run in the sixth to bring CSU within 7-3.
 
Vanitvelt added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to bring CSU within 7-4 before senior Noah Lee got plunked with the bases loaded in the ninth to restore UTRGV's four-run lead.

Senior Carter Johnson shut the door by striking out four in two perfect innings.

UTRGV and Chicago State play the rubber game of this series on Sunday at 12 p.m.

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