HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team dropped its first road game of the season, 14-3, to the Rice Owls on Tuesday at Reckling Park.
UTRGV (8-4) had six student-athletes record two hits as the Vaqueros outhit the Owls, 13-8. But six free passes and five hits in the second inning allowed Rice (5-7) a nine-spot to gain control of the game early.
Graduate student leftfielder/first baseman
Brandon Pimentel went 2-for-5 with a homerun. Senior centerfielder
Zerek Saenz and redshirt sophomore second baseman
Isaac Lopez also went 2-for-5 and Lopez notched one RBI. Senior catcher
RJ Ochoa and junior shortstop
Kade York were both 2-for-4, and senior third baseman
Roberto Gonzalez finished 2-for-3. Graduate student right fielder
Montclair Cain tallied one RBI on a sacrifice groundout. Senior RHP
J.C. Ariza took the loss, allowing seven runs on four hits and three walks with one strikeout in 1.1 innings. UTRGV used eight pitchers in the midweek contest.
Rice's
Pierce Gallo went 3-for-3 with a walk and had three RBI and three runs scored.
Connor Walsh went 2-for-3 and drove in five RBI with help from a three-run homerun.
Tyler Hamilton earned the win, tossing 2.1 innings and allowing one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
The Owls took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Gallo scored on a wild pitch.
Aaron Smigelski sent a leadoff homerun over the left field wall to open the bottom of the second. Later in the frame, Gallo roped a two-RBI single up the middle. Four consecutive walks issued by UTRGV pitchers drove in three runs and left the bases juiced.
Junior RHP and Edinburg Vela alum
Nico Rodriguez was the third Vaqueros pitcher on the bump in the frame and struck out the first batter he faced before walking the next to bring in another run.
Max Johnson knocked a two-RBI single to right to make it 10-0 in favor of the Owls before the inning ended. Walsh opened the lead to 13-0 with a three-run homerun to center in the home half of the third.
Pimentel got one run back in the top of the fourth by blasting a solo homerun to left-center. Rodriguez sat the Owls down in order to end the inning. Graduate student RHP and McAllen Rowe alum
Abanny Garcia took the bump to start the bottom of the fifth and worked a quick inning aided by a 4-6-3 double play. Freshman RHP
Ruben Gonzalez pitched a three-up, three-down bottom of the sixth.
The Vaqueros put ducks on the pond in the top of the seventh behind a leadoff walk and a pair of singles from Yorkand Lopez. The Lopez single, a blooper to shallow right field, drove in a run to cut the deficit to 13-2.
Rice got the run back in the bottom of the seventh off a sacrifice fly by Gallo before a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning. Graduate student LHP
Kris Massey pitched a one-two-three bottom of the eighth, drawing a pair of pop-ups to second and a swinging strikeout to end the frame.
UTRGV used three singles in the top of the ninth to load the bases with one out. Cain drove in a run on a sacrifice groundout to first, but a strikeout ended the game.
The Vaqueros return to UTRGV Baseball Stadium for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opening series against California Baptist. Games will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 12 p.m. Sunday.
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