RIO GRANDE VALLEY – 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 seventh week in a row, scored in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game before falling to the McNeese Cowboys 9-6 in 10 innings on Friday in front of a crowd of 4,025, the program's 13
th-largest crowd since moving into UTRGV Baseball Stadium in 2002 and sixth-largest of the season.
UTRGV has now drawn 61,253 fans across 20 dates this season, 879 shy of the program record of 62,132 set across 28 dates last season.
The Vaqueros (26-15, 17-8 SLC) trailed 6-4 entering the eighth. That's when junior
Thomas Williams hit his fourth home run of the season to make the score 6-5.
In the ninth, sophomore
Evan Janner drew a leadoff walk from
Sergio Lopez (6-1) and stole second, allowing him to score the game-tying run on a 2-out single by graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez.
In the 10
th, though, the Cowboys (30-8, 17-5 SLC) put two on with one out against senior
Anthony Tejada (2-1), setting up a go-ahead single by
Easton Dowell. The runners advanced to second and third on the throw to the plate, forcing the Vaqueros to bring the infield in.
Cole Plowman hit a hot shot to second that Williams smothered with a dive to his right. He quickly threw home as
Larry Edwards Jr. slid into home, but the throw got away, allowing Dowell to score as well, putting the Cowboys up 9-6.
Lopez came back out for the 10
th and worked around a 2-out walk to end the game.
Sanchez finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and two RBI. Williams went 2-for-5.
Down 1-0 in the second, the Vaqueros broke through with back-to-back doubles by junior
Rene Galván and senior
Hank Warren to tie the game.
Down 5-1 in the sixth, Sanchez hit a leadoff home run. Then, after a double by sophomore
Easton Moomau, senior
Steven Lancia launched a home run to bring the Vaqueros within 5-4.
Sanchez now has 17 career home runs, tied for the 11
th-most in program history. Lancia has 15 career home runs, tied for the 17
th-most in program history.
The Cowboys pushed back with a
Marcus Heusohn RBI-single in the seventh to go up 6-4.
Conner Westenburg homered to start the game against junior Los Fresnos alum
Víctor Loa and then the Cowboys put runners at second and third with two outs before Loa retired 11-straight batters.
With one out in the fifth, though,
Grant Mangrum worked a 12-pitch walked before Westenburg homered again to put the Cowboys up 3-1.
Mangrum followed that up with a 2-run single in the sixth to put the Cowboys up 5-1.
UTRGV and McNeese play the middle game of the series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. during Bark in the Park, presented by Payne Auto Group. The first 300 dogs in attendance will receive free bandanas. Fans bringing dogs will be asked to fill out a waiver. Fans can complete the waiver in advance at
GoUTRGV.com/BarkInThePark. Fans are asked to be in their seats by 6 p.m. for the senior night presentation. Additionally, the Jody Ramsey Memorial Award will be presented before the game.
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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