ST. GEORGE, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros hit a pair of ninth inning 2-run home runs to come from behind and beat the Utah Tech Trailblazers 13-11 on Thursday at Bruce Hurst Field.
The Vaqueros (13-11, 3-4 WAC) trailed 11-9 entering the ninth. Junior Vela alum
Isaac Lopez led off with a single against
Ryan Hardman (2-1) before freshman
Armani Raygoza launched his first-career home run off the centerfield scoreboard to tie the game. Two outs later, senior
Kade York drew a 7-pitch walk and then senior
Adrian Torreshomered to give the Vaqueros the lead.
Junior
Anthony Tejada struck out two in a perfect ninth for his first save.
That made a winner of junior
Robert Bonilla (1-0), who struck out one in a hitless eighth.
Raygoza led the Vaqueros offensively by going a career-best 4-for-5 with a career-high four RBI. York finished a career-best 4-for-4 with two walks and a career-high four runs scored. Graduate student
CJ Valdez finished 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Junior
Hank Warren went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
The Vaqueros came out of the gate swinging in the first, loading the bases with one out to set up a Warren RBI-single. Then, with two outs, Raygoza hit a 2-run single and Valdez hit an RBI-single to cap the inning with the Vaqueros up 4-0.
Chase Rodriguez answered with a 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom of the inning to bring the Trailblazers (7-18, 5-5 WAC) within 4-2.
Junior
Steven Lancia gave the Vaqueros one of those runs back with a 2-out RBI-single in the second to make the score 5-2.
The Trailblazers scored two runs in the second on a
Hunter Katschke home run and four in the third on 2-run singles by
Garrett Cutting and
Ethan Royal to take an 8-5 lead.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the fifth, as with two on and one out, Warren hit an RBI-single. Then, one out later, Raygoza singled to load the bases and Valdez hit a 2-run.
In the bottom of the inning, though, the Trailblazers took the lead on an error and then Katschke hit a 2-run single to put the Trailblazers up 11-8.
The Vaqueros loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth. Lancia grounded into a double play, forcing-in a run to make the score 11-9.
UTRGV and Utah Tech play the middle game of this 3-game series on Friday at 7 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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