RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team fell to the Sam Houston Bearkats 9-4 to open a three-game series on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,244.
Senior
Jesus Aldaz (2-2) allowed a hit on the first pitch of the game. He didn't allow another hit until his 92
nd pitch, striking out three while scattering three walks and retiring nine-straight heading into the seventh inning.
That's when the Bearkats (11-8, 4-0 WAC) broke through, putting runners at second and third with one out before
Carlos Contreras tied the game with a single to end Aldaz's night. Junior
Sebastian Mejia plunked the first batter he faced and then got a strikeout. Mejia got ahead of
Tyler Davis 0-2, but after fouling off three-straight 0-2 pitches, Davis hit a two-run double.
Joe Redfield followed with an RBI-double to cap the inning with the score 5-2.
The Vaqueros (9-8, 1-3 WAC) got one back in the bottom of the inning as junior
Kade York drew a leadoff walk from
Coltin Atkinson (3-0). One out later, an infield-single by senior
Zerek Saenz knocked out Atkinson. Sophomore Vela alum
Isaac Lopez greeted
Chandler David with an infield-single to the third base side.
Justin Wishkoski's throw to second went into right field, allowing York to score.
Graduate student
Montclair Cain launched his first home run of the season to make the score 5-4 in the eighth. Sophomore
Steven Lancia and York followed with singles. One out later, though,
Braden Davis came in and walked junior PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez to load the bases. Davis bounced back to strikeout Sanez before pitching a scoreless ninth for his second save.
The Bearkats added four runs in the top of the ninth on a Davis bases loaded walk, a two-run error, and a Wishkoski sacrifice fly.
The Vaqueros initially scored against Atkinson in the first, loading the bases with one out to set up a Cain RBI-groundout.
Then, in the second, the Vaqueros put two on with two out ahead of a Lopez RBI-single to make the score 2-0.
Lopez finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. It was his third three-hit game of the season and the fifth of his career. Senior
Roberto Gonzalez went 2-for-5.
UTRGV and Sam Houston play the middle game of this three-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. It's military appreciation night, meaning all active duty and retired military get in for free. Tickets are on sale now at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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