CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, which is receiving votes in the
USA Today Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the third week in a row, hit a season-high tying three home runs to beat the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 11-8 in game two of a doubleheader on Saturday at Chapman Field as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The Vaqueros (19-7, 12-2 SLC) are tied for the sixth-best start in program history and their best since 2012 (19-7).
Graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez led the Vaqueros by going a career-high tying 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and a career-high four runs scored. Graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez also homered while going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Sophomore
Armani Raygoza went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and a career-high tying four RBI. Senior
Hank Warren went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Freshman
Cameron Carter went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Sanchez launched his fifth home run of the season against
David Dean (1-2) in the first to put the Vaqueros up 1-0.
In the fourth, Sanchez led off with a single and then Raygoza belted a 2-run home run, his team-leading ninth of the season. One out later, junior
Rene Galván doubled, Warren hit an infield-single, and Carter hit an RBI-single. Sophomore Vela alum
Rudy Gonzalez followed with a pop up into shallow right. Warren hustled home to put the Vaqueros up 5-0.
Junior
Wyatt Wiatrek (4-0) retired the first seven hitters and 12 of the first 13 he faced. In the fifth, though,
Logan Vaughan and
Cade Sanchez hit back-to-back doubles to bring the Islanders (9-20, 1-10 SLC) within 5-1.
That was it against Wiatrek, who struck out five while scattering six hits and one walk in a career-high tying 6.0 innings.
Lopez hit his fourth home run of the season in the seventh, the 20
th of his career, to break a tie for fifth place in program history, now trailing only
Brandon Pimentel (31, 2022-23), Hall of Famer
Mitchell Moran (27, 1981-83),
Freddy Rojas Jr. (21, 2020-22), and
Jesse Gutierrez (21, 2000). Sophomore
Easton Moomau and Sanchez followed with singles. They advanced to second and third on an error before scoring on a Raygoza 2-run single, putting the Vaqueros up 8-1.
In the seventh, the Islanders put two on with one out, setting up a pinch-hit RBI-single by
JJ Bush. One batter later, with the bases loaded,
Trey Cruz hit an RBI-infield single.
Isaac Webb followed by hitting into an RBI-fielder's choice. Vaughan then hit a 2-run single to bring the Islanders within 8-6.
The Vaqueros got three runs back in the ninth. The Vaqueros loaded the bases with one out, setting up a sacrifice fly by junior
Thomas Williams. One batter later, with the bases reloaded, Warren hit a 2-run single to cap the scoring.
The Vaqueros got three runs back in the ninth. The Vaqueros loaded the bases with one out, setting up a sacrifice fly by junior
Thomas Williams. One batter later, with the bases reloaded, Warren hit a 2-run single, to put the Vaqueros up 11-6.
Junior
Nick Nolan pitched the final two innings for his first save. After retiring the first five hitters, Nolan allowed three-straight two-out hits in the ninth, capped by a Vaughan 2-run double.
UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi close out the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. on
ESPN+.
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