RIO GRANDE VALLEY –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team opened conference play with a 13-3, 7-inning victory over the defending Southland Champion Lamar Cardinals on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,111, the 14
th-largest crowd to ever watch a UTRGV baseball game at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, where the Vaqueros have played since 2002.
Sophomore
Armani Raygoza led the Vaqueros (5-2, 1-0 SLC) offensively by going 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and a walk. Graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
After the Cardinals (9-2, 0-1 SLC) scored three runs in the top of the first against graduate student
Angelo Cabral (1-0), the Vaqueros responded with six runs on three hits, five walks and a hit batsman against
Peyton Havard (1-1) in the bottom of the inning.
Lopez singled on the first pitch. Then, after a 1-out walk to sophomore
Easton Moomau, Lopez stole third, allowing him to score on a fielder's choice by senior
Steven Lancia. Raygoza followed with a walk and then Sanchez hit an RBI-single. In his first-career start, junior
Rene Galván hit a game-tying single up the middle on the first pitch he saw. Senior
Hank Warren and junior
Damien Whitfield followed with walks, the latter of which forced-in a run. Lopez then got plunked to bring in another run before junior
Thomas Williams walked to send home the final run of the inning, making the score 6-3.
That's where the score stayed until the fifth, when Lancia hit a 1-out RBI-single and Raygoza followed with a 2-run home run. Three batters later, with the bases loaded, Whitfield hit a 2-run double and Lopez hit an RBI-single to make the score 12-3.
The Vaqueros added a run in the sixth on a Raygoza single.
The Cardinals started the game with three-straight singles, the second of which, by
Brayden Evans brought in a run. One out later,
Zane Spinn hit a 2-run single to make the score 3-0.
Cabral settled down from there to pitch 5.0 innings, striking out four.
Junior
Wyatt Wiatrek followed with 2.0 hitless innings, striking out four.
UTRGV and Lamar play the middle game of this 3-game series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium during Western Night, presented by Vaquero Outfitters. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive free UTRGV rally towels. Fans are encouraged to come dressed in their best western attire to take part in a contest honoring the best dressed. Western music will be played throughout the night. Fans that purchase a ticket to this game will receive free general admission to the women's and men's basketball doubleheader vs. New Orleans at 2 and 4:30 p.m. or vice versa. Current UTRGV faculty and staff receive free general admission with an employee 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.
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