RIO GRANDE VALLEY – A program record crowd of 6,537 watched The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, which is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the fifth week in a row, clinch another Southland Conference (SLC) series Saturday with a 9-7 win over the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Lumberjacks at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Vaqueros (24-10, 15-5 SLC) have drawn the second-most total fans in program history after Saturday's record-breaking crowd brought the season attendance to 51,577 (17 dates). The season attendance record is 62,132 (28 dates) set in 2024.
Freshman
Harrison Thayer (2-1) was dynamic in 7.2 innings of relief to pick up the win. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Redshirt junior
Thomas Williams led UTRGV offensively by going 1-for-2 with a walk and a double and drove in three RBIs. Senior
Steven Lancia finished with two RBIs and scored twice as he went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double.
SFA (9-25, 2-15 SLC) wasted no time jumping on UTRGV's starting pitcher and scored four runs on five hits in the top of the first. The Vaqueros responded in the home half of the frame, stringing together five hits in a row to quickly even the score at 4-4. Sophomore
Easton Moomau drove in the first Vaqueros run with a single through the right side. Lancia and Williams roped back-to-back doubles to the left side of the diamond, with Lancia's shot driving in one run and Williams bringing in two.
Thayer took the mound in relief to start the second and drew an inning-ending double play to work around a pair of walks to open the frame.
After a busy first, neither team put a run on the board in the second. But the scoring picked up again in the third as
Ethan Adkiss put SFA back on top, 5-4, with a sacrifice fly. UTRGV used a two-out rally to once again tie the game as junior
Rene Galván worked a bases-loaded RBI walk.
Thayer worked a three up, three down top of the fourth, and the Vaqueros offense rewarded him with a three-spot in the home half of the inning. Lancia recorded his second RBI with a bases-loaded walk, then Williams tabbed his third RBI with a sacrifice fly. Senior
Hank Warren singled to left to put the Vaqueros up 8-5.
Thayer only needed nine pitches to get through a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. That momentum carried into the bottom of the frame as graduate student PSJA High alum
Jacob Sanchez smashed a solo home run, making it 9-5.
Sanchez, redshirt sophomore
Armani Raygoza and freshman
Cameron Carter joined Lancia as Vaqueros to record two hits in the contest.
The efficient Thayer sat the 'Jacks down in order in the seventh and eighth innings. He threw 14 pitches to get through the two quick innings. But in the ninth,
Jose Ibe hit a two-run home run to cut the UTRGV lead in half. Junior closer
Steven Oliva took the mound with two outs and sat down the only batter he faced to record his fifth save.
Dylan Mulcahy took the loss for the Lumberjacks.
The Vaqueros and 'Jacks will complete the SLC series Sunday at 12 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in the Autism Acceptance game presented by Driscoll Health Plan. There is also a Book Drive taking place and fans can receive free general admission by donating a book.
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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