RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team scored six runs in the ninth and put the winning run in scoring position before falling to the Austin Peay Governors, a team receiving votes in the latest NCBWA poll, 12-11 on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
Junior
Steven Lancia led the Vaqueros (5-3) offensively, going 5-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Junior
Hank Warren went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Senior
Adrian Torres reached base three times, going 1-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored.
The Vaqueros trailed 12-6 entering the bottom of the ninth. Junior Sharyland alum
Martin Vazquez led off with a double and then Lancia singled. A wild pitched scored Vazquez. One out later, freshman
Easton Moomau walked and Warren singled to load the bases. Then, with two outs, senior
Kade York was plunked to force-in a run and Torres cleared the bases with a double. The next two batters walked to re-load the bases. Lancia followed with an infield-single to bring home Torres before
Tyler Hampu struck out graduate student
CJ Valdez to end the game and record his second save.
The Vaqueros led 5-4 after seven innings. The Governors (9-1) scored seven runs on five hits, three walks (one international), and three wild pitches in the eighth to take an 11-5 lead.
Justin Olson and
Trevor Conley started the scoring with RBI-singles against senior
Tyler Valdez (1-1) and then
Ambren Voitik hit an RBI-double. The next three batters walked, including
Harrison Brown to force-in a run. A wild pitch scored
Clayton Gray and then
Jaden Browncapped the inning with a 2-run single.
That made a winner of
DJ Merriweather (2-0), who pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
The Governors added a run in the ninth on a Gray groundout.
The Governors got on the board right away, as the second batter of the game,
Lyle Miller-Green, homered to make the score 1-0.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the second when Warren hit into a fielder's choice to bring home Lancia.
In the fourth, however
Brody Szako was plunked with one out. He moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a fly out. Olson followed with an RBI infield-single to make the score 2-1 Governors.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the bottom of the inning when a 2-out wild pitch brough home Vazquez.
The Vaqueros scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead, loading the bases with nobody out to set up an RBI-walk by junior Vela alum
Isaac Lopez. One out later, Lancia hit a sacrifice fly and then
CJ Valdez hit an RBI-single to make the score 5-2.
The Governors got two runs back in the sixth, opening the inning with 3-straight hits, including an RBI-double by Olson. One out later, Voitik drove-in a run with a groundout to make the score 5-4.
UTRGV and Austin Peay play the middle game of this 3-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. Fans can take advantage of the baseball/basketball bundle promotion. Fans can use their tickets to Saturday's baseball game to get free admission to Saturday's 2 p.m. women's basketball game against California Baptist at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, or vice versa.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. 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 can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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