UTRGV Final Score #3 UTRGV 19 15 3 Runs Hits Errors #5 Seattle U 9 8 4 WAC Tournament
Staverne Joseph
Coleman Grubbs (#1)
19
Winner UTRGV UTRGV 31-25
9
Seattle U SU 18-33
Winner
UTRGV UTRGV
31-25
19
Final
9
Seattle U SU
18-33
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
UTRGV UTRGV 0 0 7 2 5 1 0 4 19 15 3
Seattle U SU 1 2 0 1 0 4 1 0 9 8 4

W: Gerik Jr., Ricky (7-3) L: Petersen, Kohl (0-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

#3 UTRGV Bats Explode to Knock Out #5 Seattle U at WAC Baseball Tournament

MESA, Ariz. – No. 3 seed The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team scored seven runs in the third and never let up to knock out the No. 5 seed Seattle U Redhawks 19-9 in eight innings in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament elimination game on Friday at Hohokam Stadium.
 
UTRGV (31-25) will face the loser of Friday's late game between No. 1 seed Grand Canyon and No. 2 seed Sacramento State on Saturday at 4 p.m. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Grand Canyon-Sacramento State game at 8. If the Vaqueros win both games on Saturday, they will face their Saturday night opponent in a rematch on Sunday at 2 to determine the WAC Tournament Champion and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Fans in the United States can watch online via ESPN+. Fans outside the United States can watch online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.
 
The 19 runs are the most UTRGV has scored in a game since March 7, 2020, in a 19-0, seven-inning home win over NJIT.
 
Down 3-0 in the third, senior Jacob Hirsh drew a leadoff walk from Kohl Petersen (0-3). Postbaccalaureate student Christian Sepulveda followed with a double and then graduate student Coleman Grubbs hit a two-run single. Three batters later, the Vaqueros had runners on the corners with two outs when senior Elijah Alexander hit a grounder to the shortstop hole for an RBI-single. Sophomore Angel De La Cruz followed with an RBI-single to left to knock out Petersen. Junior Vela alum RJ Ochoa capped the inning with a three-run home run on the second pitch by reliever Brady Liddle to make the score 7-3.
 
Ochoa's home run, his fifth of the season, traveled 380 feet with an exit velocity of 94 miles per hour.
 
The Vaqueros put Grubbs and graduate student Andy Atwood at first and second to start the fourth. They attempted a double-steal, and the throw to third went into left field, allowing Grubbs to score. One batter later, graduate student Joseph Impeduglia hit an RBI-single to put the Vaqueros up 9-3.
 
Then, in the fifth, the Vaqueros put runners at second and third with one out to setup a two-run double by Grubbs and a long two-run home run by Atwood. The home run, Atwood's 10th of the season, traveled 412 feet with an exit velocity of 104 miles per hour.
 
Atwood now ranks tied for ninth in program history for home runs in a season with former Oakland A's third baseman George Williams (1991) and Tommy Supak (1980).
 
The Vaqueros have now hit 50 home runs this season, the fifth-highest total in program history.
 
The Vaqueros went up 14-4 later in the fifth when an Impeduglia single and an error allowed sophomore Diego Ramirez to score.
 
The Vaqueros added another run in the sixth when Hirsh tripled and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 15-4.
 
Then, in the eighth, Grubbs scored on a passed ball, Impeduglia lifted a sacrifice fly and Ochoa hit a two-run single to make the score 19-9.
 
Ochoa finished 3-for-6 with a home run, a career-high five RBI and two runs scored. Grubbs went 2-for-4 with a double, a season-high tying four RBI and a career-high tying four runs scored. He was also plunked twice. Atwood finished 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two RBI and three runs scored. Sepulveda went 2-for-6 with a career-high tying two doubles and a season-high tying two runs scored. Impeduglia finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored.
 
Junior Ricky Gerik Jr. (7-3) earned the win in relief by striking out two in a perfect eighth.
 
The Redhawks (18-33) initially jumped on the board in the first on a sacrifice fly by Julian Kodama.
 
The Redhawks added two more runs in the second on a two-out single by Justin Mazzone to go up 3-0.
 
In the fourth, Mazzone hit a two-out RBI-single to make the score 9-4.
 
The Redhawks scored four runs in the sixth on a pinch-hit single by Kellen Carr, a pinch-hit double by Drake Maningo, and a fielder's choice by Connor O'Brien, on which there was also an error, that scored two runs to make the score 15-8.
 
Carr added an RBI-double in the seventh to make the score 15-9.

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