RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team scored seven runs over the final eight innings to come from behind and beat the two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament Champion Nicholls Colonels 10-9 in 13 innings on Saturday in front of a Swifties Night crowd of 4,352, the fifth largest to ever witness a Vaqueros game at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Vaqueros (13-3, 8-0 SLC) are off to their best overall start since 1979, when they started 15-1.
The Vaqueros have now tied for the best conference start in NCAA Division I program history, having also started 8-0 in the Great West Conference in 2012.
Down 8-3, the Vaqueros plated four runs in the sixth, as three of the first four batters walked to load the bases with one out. Senior
Hank Warren hit a 2-run double and then junior
Damien Whitfield hit a 2-run single to make the score 8-7.
The Vaqueros tied the game at 8 in the seventh on an RBI-single by sophomore
Armani Raygoza.
The Vaqueros took the lead in the eighth, as with two outs, graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez walked, who stole second, and moved to third before scoring on a single by junior
Thomas Williams to make the score 9-8.
Williams finished 1-for-2 with a career-high four walks, an RBI and a run scored.
Carter Jenkins hit a game-tying single in the ninth to force extra innings.
Sophomore
Easton Moomau led off the 12
th with a four-pitch walk from
Cole Simoneaux (0-1) and then senior
Steven Lancia hit a walk-off double.
That made a winner of senior
Robert Bonilla (1-0), who struck out four in 2.0 hitless innings.
Junior Los Fresnos alum
Víctor Loa retired the first five batters he faced before
AJ Cappell doubled and
Fisher Ingersollhit an RBI-single to put the Colonels (8-13, 3-5 SLC) up 1-0.
The Colonels added a pair of unearned runs in the third as with second and third and one out,
Jaden Collura hit an RBI-groundout and
Aaron Biediger hit an RBI-single to make the score 3-0.
The Vaqueros responded with three runs to tie the game in the bottom of the third, as with two on and two out, Moomau hit an RBI-single. Lancia followed with an RBI-single to left.
Chase Jans overran the ball, allowing Moomau to score to make the score 3-3.
In the top of the fifth, the Colonels put runners at first and second with one out.
Jaden Collura hit an RBI-single and then Biediger was plunked to load the bases.
Noah Detillier followed with a bases-clearing double to put the Colonels up 7-3.
The Colonels added a run in the sixth on a Jans 2-out RBI-single to make the score 8-3.
UTRGV and Nicholls complete this three-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in a game presented by Main Event. Fans will receive all you can play wristbands, courtesy of Main Event, good from Sunday through Thursday. Fans showing their passport get free general admission. Additionally, all Sunday home games feature the Family Fun Day: 4 for $44 promotion which includes four general admission tickets, four drinks, and four hot dogs for $44.
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 11 a.m.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
Southland International.
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