RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team fell to the Utah Valley Wolverines 8-6 in 10 innings on Saturday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 5,374, the third-largest in program history.
UTRGV has now welcomed 41,431 fans through 21 dates, the second-highest single-season total in program history, behind only last year's program record 45,461 fans across 28 dates. UTRGV is averaging 1,973 fans per date with eight home games remaining. If that average holds, UTRGV will break the current program record of 1,920 fans per date set across 20 dates in 1972.
Junior Sharyland alum
Martin Vazquez hit his 11
th home run of the season, tied with
Freddy Rojas Jr. (2022) and Hall of Famer
Joe Hernandez (1975) for the 10
th-highest single-season total in program history. That gave the Vaqueros (17-14, 7-7 WAC) a 1-0 lead in the first.
That was it against
Mitch Mueller, who struck out five in 6.1 innings while allowing six hits and one walk.
Senior
Zach Tjelmeland matched Mueller pitch for pitch, striking out eight in a career-high tying 7.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks.
The Wolverines (18-18, 9-5 WAC) tied the game at 1 in the third when, with runners on the corners and two outs,
Calyn Halvorson stole second and junior
Steven Lancia tried to get
Burke Camper retreating to third. The throw went into left field, though, allowing Camper to score.
Cole Jordan gave the Wolverines a 2-1 lead with a home run in the sixth.
The Vaqueros tied the game at 2 in the seventh when freshman Vela alum
Rudy Gonzalez was plunked with the bases loaded to bring home senior
Kade York.
In the eighth,
Joe McBride pinch-hit and launched a grand slam to put the Wolverines up 6-2.
In the bottom of the inning, the Vaqueros loaded the base with one out. Senior
Adrian Torres hit a ground ball to short that was bobbled to drive-in a run. Vazquez walked to force-in a run. Then, with two outs, Gonzalez walked to push home another run. A wild pitch scored Torres to tie the game at 6.
With one out in the 10
th,
Nate Bach and
Isaac Lovings drew 7-pitch walks and pulled off a double-steal before
Garrett Broussard hit a 2-run single against junior
Anthony Tejada (1-2) to give the Wolverines the lead.
The Vaqueros tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, as singles by Torres and Vazquez brought the winning run to the plate, but
Eli Sundquist (1-2) set down the final two hitters to close out the game.
UTRGV and Utah Valley conclude the series on Sunday at 12 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. Fans can take advantage of the Family Fun Day: 4 for $44 promotion includes four general admission tickets, four drinks, and four hot dogs for $44.
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 11 a.m.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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