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RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team scored four runs in the eighth to come from behind and beat the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits 8-7 on Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium and take the series 3-to-1.
The Vaqueros (6-7) trailed 7-4 with one out in the eighth when junior
Jacob Hirsh doubled and graduate student
Andy Atwood singled to put runners on the corners against
Bret Barnett (0-3). A wild pitch scored a run and advanced Atwood to second. Senior
Conrado Diaz hit an RBI-single on the next pitch and then senior
Christian Sepulveda singled to knock out Barnett. Junior
Freddy Rojas Jr. greeted
Drew Beazley with an RBI-single to tie the game. A wild pitch then scored Sepulveda to give the Vaqueros the lead.
That made a winner of junior Edinburg alum
John Henry Gonzalez (1-1), who struck out two in the eighth.
Junior
Ricky Gerik Jr. struck out one in a perfect ninth for his first save.
Diaz finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI. Atwood went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Hirsh finished 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as senior
Coleman Grubbs scored on a wild pitch.
The Jackrabbits (2-9) scored the next six runs of the game, though, starting in the second when
Luke Ira homered and
Landon Badger hit an RBI-double. Beazley hit an RBI-double in the third. In the fourth,
Braeden Brown hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, but after the out was recorded at the plate, the throw to first sailed into right field, allowing two runs to score and Brown to advance to third.
Ryan McDonald followed with an RBI-single to make the score 6-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Vaqueros drew four-straight walks with two outs, the last of which was by Atwood to force-in a run. Diaz followed with a two-run single to bring the Vaqueros within 6-4.
Three UTRGV relievers combined for three hitless innings, as juniors
Tyler Kisner,
Deryk Serbantez and
Chase Bridges racked up a total of four strikeouts.
In the eighth, however, a walk and a double set-up a run-scoring wild pitch to extend the Jackrabbits' lead to 7-4.
UTRGV opens up a four-game series against NJIT on Friday at 7 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. It's Retro Night. UTRGV Athletics is throwing it back to the 1980's with music, trivia, and lots of hair spray. Current UTRGV faculty and staff can get two free tickets with an employee ID. If UTRGV wins, fans can take home a buy one, get one free Raising Cane's box combo coupon. Current UTRGV students receive free admission to all UTRGV home games with a student ID. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at
UTRGVTickets.com. Fans purchasing their tickets online prior to game day can save up to $2 per ticket. Gates open at 6.
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