ARLINGTON –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team knocked off the No. 20 Dallas Baptist Patriots, 15-5, on Tuesday at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers.
UTRGV (3-1) scored 11 runs in the top of the ninth to secure its first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 26, 2023, when the Vaqueros defeated #27 Central Michigan.
Graduate student and Edinburg Vela alum
Isaac Lopez led the Vaqueros by going 3-for-5 and drove in three RBI – all in the big ninth inning. Sophomore
Armani Raygoza went 2-for-4 with a double and a career-high tying four RBI. Redshirt junior
Thomas Williams went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Redshirt senior RHP
Anthony Tejada earned the win after pitching one scoreless inning with three strikeouts and one walk. Junior Edinburg High alum
Daren Barrera pitched four innings, allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
Dallas Baptist held a 5-4 lead heading to the final inning. Graduate student PSJA High alum
Jacob Sanchez led off with a single, then back-to-back free passes loaded the bases with nobody out. Lopez opened the floodgates with a two-RBI single to right center and Williams followed with a RBI single to put UTRGV on top, 7-5.
The Vaqueros extended the lead to 9-5 following a throwing error and an RBI fielder's choice by senior
Steven Lancia, who showcased his speed down the line to prevent a double play. The Patriots hit three consecutive batters to bring in another run and load the bases with one out. Freshman
Cameron Carter worked an RBI walk to make it 11-5, then back-to-back wild pitches allowed two more runs to score.
Lopez and Williams delivered again with two outs to give the Vaqueros a 15-5 lead. Lopez dropped an RBI single in left center and Williams doubled down the right field line to drive in his second RBI.
Graduate student
Jack Lopez took the mound in relief after one batter in the bottom of the ninth and worked around a leadoff walk to close it out. Dallas Baptist got a runner on third with no outs after a double, but Lopez drew two fly outs and got help from a diving catch by Williams to prevent a rally.
The first three Vaqueros reached on a hit batsman and two walks before Raygoza hit a bases-clearing double to make the score 3-0.
The Patriots (3-1) responded in the bottom of the first as, after a 2-out walk,
Grant Jay hit an RBI-double to make the score 3-1.
In the third, the Patriots loaded the bases with one out.
Chayton Krauss walked to force-in a run. Out later,
Landon Underhill walked to force-in another run and tie the game at 3.
The Patriots put runners at second and third with nobody out in the fifth. After Barrera struck out Krauss,
Joey Neratgrounded out to bring home a run, putting the Patriots up 4-3.
Raygoza tied the game at 4 in the sixth with a 1-out RBI-single against
Ryan Borberg (0-0). Dallas Baptist took the 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Nerat, who was later caught stealing to end the inning.
Tejada struck out the side on 15 pitches in the bottom of the eighth to set up the explosive ninth for the Vaqueros.
UTRGV opens a 3-game series against North Dakota State on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. It's Educators Appreciation Night. All PK-12 teachers get free admission with a school ID.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. 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. Fans can find a full list of game day information at
RallyTheValley.com. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
Southland International.
Support UTRGV Baseball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
