RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Senior
Kevin Stevens struck out seven to move into ninth place in program history in strikeouts while leading The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team past the Tarleton Texans 8-2 on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,234.
Stevens (6-2) now has 197-career strikeouts, passing Hall of Famer
Tommy Sandoval (193, 1967-70),
Mando Reyes (194, 1976-77),
Sam Street (195, 2013-14), and
Ryan Jackson (195, 2015-19) on the all-time list. Next up is
Danny Kennedy (198, 1986-88).
Steven pitched 6.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits and four walks.
Stevens also got a little help from his defense, as with runners on the corners and one out in the second,
Cody Vannoy flied out to right and then graduate student
Freddy Rojas Jr. threw out
Carter Dobrinski at the plate for an inning-ending double play.
The Texans' (13-28, 6-13 WAC) lone run came in the fourth on an RBI-fielder's choice by
Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo.
The Vaqueros (24-18, 10-9 WAC) broke through with three runs against
Bryce Hackett (2-6) in the second. Graduate student
Brett Cain led off the inning with a single and then sophomore PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez drew an eight-pitch walk. After a Rojas single loaded the bases, junior
Chris Mondesi and freshman Vela alum
Isaac Lopez hit back-to-back groundballs to short for run-scoring fielder's choices. Graduate student
Cameron Blake followed with a single to left that hit off the glove of
Kemuel Thomas-Rivera, allowing Lopez to score.
The Vaqueros added two more in the fifth on back-to-back RBI-singles by graduate student
Bryan Sturges and Cain to make the score 5-1.
Junior
Diego Ramirez came up with an RBI-single in the sixth to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 6-1.
The Texans got one back in the top of the seventh on a two-out double by
Bryan Aguilar.
Junior
Brandon Pimentel responded with a two-run triple in the eighth to make the score 8-2.
Cain finished 3-for-5 while Pimentel and Ramirez each went 2-for-5.
Graduate student
Ricky Gerik Jr. pitched the final 3.0 innings, striking out three, for his sixth save.
UTRGV and Tarleton play the middle game of this three-game series, presented by
First Community Bank, on Saturday at 6 p.m. during
Bark at the Park at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. The first 250 dogs in attendance will receive UTRGV bandanas. Yaqui Animal Rescue and Canines in Action Academy, LLC will offer information and programming during the game. Gates open at 5 p.m. For more information visit
GoUTRGV.com/BarkInThePark. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students get free admission with their student ID. Those unable to attend the game in person can watch in the United States on
ESPN+ or internationally at
WACSports.com/Watch.
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