RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior DeAndre' Shelton hit a walk-off single to send The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team to a 4-3, eight-inning victory over the Northern Illinois University Huskies in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
 
The game, which was originally scheduled for seven innings, went into extra innings tied at 3. Both teams started with a runner at second base in the eighth inning. Senior Chase Bridges (1-0) induced a popped-up bunt and struck out two to get out of the inning.
 
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore Diego Ramirez and postbaccalaureate student Christian Sepulveda drew walks, setting up the two-out, walk-off single by Shelton.
 
Sophomore J.C. Ariza pitched well for the Vaqueros (6-4), allowing three runs on four hits while striking out a career-high tying eight in a career-high 6.1 innings.
 
The Huskies (1-5) scored their runs in the first on a two-run, two-out, two-strike single by Kam Smith. Ariza responded by retiring the next 17 batters he faced, striking out six. The final batter he faced, though, was Smith, who hit a game-tying home run.
 
The Vaqueros were held off the board until the sixth when, with two outs, Sepulveda hit an RBI-single and junior Freddy Rojas Jr. hit a two-run double. 
 
UTRGV and Northern Illinois play game two of the doubleheader, the final game of this four-game series, at approximately 3:15 p.m. UTRGV Athletics is capping capacity at UTRGV Baseball Stadium at about 1,000 fans. Single-game tickets can be purchased online at UTRGVTickets.com. For more information about game day, visit GoUTRGV.com/game-day.
 
Fans can also watch for free online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.

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