MANHATTAN, Kan. – With the game tied at five in the top of the eighth inning, senior Anthony Gomez hit a home run to help The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team to a 6-5 victory Kansas State on Sunday at Tointon Family Stadium.
 
With one out in the top of the eighth, Gomez hit the 0-2 pitch from Dylan Phillips (0-1) over the left field wall that made it 6-5 in favor of UTRGV (13-7). 
 
Senior Chase Adams then followed with a scoreless eighth and then UTRGV turned the ball over to senior and Nikki Rowe alum Ryan Jackson who pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the season and the 11^thof his career. Jackson is now tied for third all-time in career saves in program history.
 
It's UTRGV's first-ever win over Kansas State and its second win over a Big 12 team after defeating Oklahoma State on February 16. 
 
UTRGV put the pressure on Kansas State (10-9) in the top of the first as redshirt junior Andy Atwood reached on an error. After moving to second on a ground ball, Atwood came in to score on an RBI double by junior Conrado Diaz. Another error by Kansas State allowed Diaz to come in and score making it 2-0 UTRGV.
 
Kansas State answered in the bottom of the first as Phillips reached on an error and then later came in to score on an RBI single by Cameron Thompson. Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly by Terrence Spurlin tied the game at 2-2.
 
In the bottom of the second, Kansas State got a pair of runs on a two-run double by Caleb Littlejim that gave them the 4-2 lead. 
 
Gomez and Diaz started the top of the third with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt moved Gomez and Diaz into scoring position, a fielding error allowed Gomez to come in and scoring cutting into Kansas State's lead at 4-3. 
 
Kansas State got the run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Thompson that pushed the score to 5-3.
 
UTRGV took advantage of another Kansas State error in the top of the sixth. Redshirt freshman Jacob Hirsh led off the inning with a double and then after a throwing error came in to score making it 5-4. 
A couple of hit by pitches started the top of the seventh for UTRGV as juniors Christian Sepulveda and Elijah Alexander reached. One out later, sophomore Oliver Closner IV hit an RBI double that scored Sepulveda tying the game at five. 
 
In the bottom of the seventh Kansas State had a pair of runners on and threatened to load the bases with no one out but UTRGV turned a triple play to set up Gomez' home run in the next half inning.
 
Junior Ricky Arevalo (2-0) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless seventh. Senior Jarred Quartier started the game for UTRGV and pitched four innings while allowing four unearned runs on five hits. 
 
UTRGV will be back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Corpus Christi to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6 p.m.

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