RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, which is receiving votes for the second week in a row in the
USA Today Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Polls, endured its first Southland Conference loss of the season, falling to the Houston Christian University (HCU) Huskies 6-3 on Friday in front of a crowd of 3,334, the 16
th largest to ever watch a UTRGV baseball game at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
Junior
Wyatt Wiatrek started for the Vaqueros (16-4, 9-1 SLC), striking out a career-high eight in a career-high 6.0 innings while allowing two runs on five hits without a walk.
The runs came with two outs in the second on a
Rhett Hendrick 2-run home run.
That home run tied the game, as the Vaqueros jumped on
Parker Edwards (1-1) in the first, putting two on with one out to set up an RBI-single by senior
Steven Lancia. One batter later, graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez hit an RBI-double to put the Vaqueros up 2-0.
Sanchez finished 2-for-4. Sophomore
Easton Moomau went 2-for-3 while getting hit by a pitch and scoring a run. Senior
Hank Warren reached base three times on a single and two walks.
Edwards settled down from there to pitch 6.0 innings. He allowed hits in the second, third, and fourth innings but followed each one by inducing a double play.
The Huskies (13-6, 6-1 SLC) took the lead in the seventh against graduate student
Jack Lopez (0-1), as with runners at second and third and one out, Hendricks hit a 2-run single to make the score 4-2.
In the eighth, the Huskies put two on with two out, setting up RBI-singles by
Matthew Leiterman and
Robert Oropeza to make the score 6-2.
Graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez launched his third home run of the season leading off the eighth to bring the Vaqueros within 6-3. Lopez now has 19-career home runs, tied for the fifth most in program history with
Vinnie Mejia (2010-12),
Matt Siskowski (1994-97), and
Ray De Leon (1990-91).
Ben Norton recorded the final out for his third save.
UTRGV and HCU play the middle game of this three-game series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium on 956 Night, presented by McAllen International Airport. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive "956" t-shirts. There will be a sombrero decorating contest, presented by Vaquero Outfitters, and a grito contest.
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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