RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team earned their first series victory over a Big 12 opponent since 2000 by defeating the Baylor Bears 7-4 on Monday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Vaqueros (2-1) took two out of three from the Bears (1-2), marking the second year in a row that the Vaqueros have opened the season with two wins in the opening series against Big 12 competition after splitting a four-game series against Kansas State last year.
This is the first time the Vaqueros have won a series against a Big 12 team since sweeping Texas Tech in a three-game series at home March 13-14, 2000.
The Vaqueros jumped on the board against
Jimmy Winston (0-1) right away, scoring on a fielder's choice by graduate student
Coleman Grubbs in the first.
After an
Antonio Valdez single tied the game in the second, the Vaqueros immediately responded with a run on a ground-rule double by freshman
Spencer Serven and a two-run single by graduate student
Conrado Diaz to take a 4-1 lead.
A
Kyle Nevin single in the third brought the Bears to within 4-2 before junior
Brett Cain hit an RBI-double in the fourth to push the Vaqueros' lead to 5-2.
The two teams continued to trade runs, as a
Chase Wehsener groundout made the score 5-3 in the sixth, but graduate student
Christian Sepulveda answered with an RBI-single in the seventh to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 6-3.
The Bears threatened again in the eighth, scoring on a
Jack Pineda single and the loading the bases with two outs before junior
Ricky Gerik Jr. got
Andy Thomas to foul out.
Graduate student
Andy Atwood gave the Vaqueros an insurance with a single in the eighth.
Senior
Chase Bridges followed with a scoreless ninth for the save.
Sophomore
Colten Davis (1-0) earned the win in relief, pitching 3.2 innings, striking out three while allowing two runs on four hits.
Sophomore
Diego Ramirez had a big day offensively, going 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Atwood finished 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
UTRGV visits Washington for a four-game series starting Friday at 8 p.m. on Pac-12 Plus.
Support UTRGV Baseball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
