MESA, Ariz. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team, the Southwest Division #3 seed, fell to the West Division #4 seed New Mexico State Aggies 10-0 in seven innings in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at Hohokam Stadium, the spring training home of the Oakland A's.
UTRGV faces Sacramento State, the West Division #2 seed, in an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m. The winner faces New Mexico State in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Fans can watch both games in the United States on
ESPN+ or internationally at
WACSports.com/Watch.
UTRGV beat Sacramento State 2-1 in the opening round on Wednesday and is now 2-2 against New Mexico State this year.
Junior
Brandon Pimentel led the Vaqueros (33-24) by going 2-for-3 with a double and two sliding catches in left field.
Pimentel now has 87 hits this season, passing
Garrett Bivone (86, 2010) for fourth most in program history. Next up is Hall of Famer
Mitchell Moran (88, 1983).
Pimentel has 17 doubles, tied for eighth-highest single-season total in program history with
Vinnie Mejia (2012),
Stuart MacInnes (2010),
Steve Redden (1997),
Matt Siskowski (1996) and
Bill Savarino (1985).
Pimentel also has 144 total bases, tied for the second-highest single-season total in program history with Hall of Famer
Joe Hernandez (1975). The record is 162, accomplished by Moran in 1983.
Graduate student
Freddy Rojas Jr. had the Vaqueros' other hit, as
Ian Mejia (5-4) pitched 7.0 scoreless innings, striking out six.
The Aggies (22-32) broke through against graduate student
Jesus Aldaz (5-6) in the second on a two-run home run by
Nolan Funke.
That was it until the fifth, when
Cal Kilgore hit into an RBI-fielder's choice and
Cal Villareal hit a solo home run to make the score 4-0.
Logan Gallina hit a solo home run in the sixth to make the score 5-0.
Then, in the seventh, after the first two batters struck out, a walk and a single led an RBI-single by
Kevin Jimenez and and a two-run single by Gallina. After an error and another hit,
Tommy Tabak hit a two-run double to cap the inning with the Aggies up 10-0.
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