OREM, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team dropped the finale of a three-game series against the Utah Valley University Wolverines 7-4 on Sunday at UCCU Ballpark.
The Vaqueros (19-15, 7-8 WAC) trailed 4-2 entering the eighth. Sophomore Vela alum
Isaac Lopez led off with a double and then graduate student
Brandon Pimentel blasted a game-tying home run to right field.
It was Pimentel's 10
th home run of the season, tied for the 11
th-highest single-season total in program history. Pimentel is the first player in program history to have multiple 10+ home run seasons.
Pimentel now has 22 home runs in his UTRGV career, the second-highest total in program history, breaking a tie with
Freddy Rojas Jr. (2000-22) and
Jesse Gutierrez (2000). The program record is 27 by Hall of Famer
Mitchell Moran(1981-83).
In the bottom of the eighth,
Patrick Mills answered with a 3-run home run off junior
Sebastian Mejia (0-3) to give the Wolverines a 7-4 lead.
That made a winner of
Devin Smith (1-1), who struck out one and walked one in 0.2 innings of relief.
Mitch Mueller pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.
Senior
Colten Davis was unhittable over the first four innings, retiring 12 of the 13 batters he faced. Davis plunked the second batter of the game but responded by retiring the next 11 men in a row.
In the fifth, however, after issuing a leadoff walk, Davis allowed his first hit, a 2-run home run to
Cole Jordan, to tie the game at 2.
The Wolverines (19-16, 6-7 WAC) added two more in the sixth on a two-out, two-run double by
Burke Camper to make the score 4-2.
Davis allowed just four hits and one walk in 6.0 innings while racking up a career-high tying nine strikeouts.
The Vaqueros scored their first two runs in the second, as with graduate student
Montclair Cain at second and two outs, junior
Adrian Torres hit an RBI-double and junior PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez hit an RBI-single.
Senior
Roberto Gonzalez posted his 15
th multi-hit game of the season, and his team-high tying fourth of three or more hits, by going 3-for-5 with a double. Pimentel finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and one run scored. Lopez went 2-for-5 with a career-high two doubles and one run scored.
UTRGV visits Incarnate Word on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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