SAN ANTONIO – 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 eighth week in a row, completed the doubleheader sweep of the Incarnate Word Cardinals by winning game two 13-10 on Saturday at Sullivan Field.
The Vaqueros (32-15, 21-8 SLC), who are now on a 6-game winning streak, have won a program record 21 conference games, breaking the previous record of 20 set in 2021, when the Vaqueros went 20-15 in the Western Athletic Conference.
With the game tied at 10 in the ninth, junior
Damien Whitfield was plunked with one out to end the night for
Gus McKay (2-5).
Jonah Posey came in and issued a four-pitch walk to graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez.
Bruno Robles came in out of the bullpen and got the second out. He then walked graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez and sophomore
Easton Moomau to force-in a run. Senior
Steven Lancia capped the inning with a 2-run single to put the Vaqueros up 13-10.
That made a winner of junior
Steven Oliva (1-2), who pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
Lancia led the Vaqueros offensively by going 3-for-5 with a triple, a season-high five RBI and two runs scored. Junior
Thomas Williams went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, three walks, three RBI and two runs scored. Moomau went 2-for-5 with a walk, a career-high tying three RBI and two runs scored. Junior
Hank Warren finished 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI.
Williams hit his home run, his sixth of the season, to bring the Vaqueros within 3-1 in the second.
In the third, the Vaqueros put runners on the corners with one out, Moomau hit a chopper back to the mound.
Hunter Hargett threw home but couldn't get the runner. Lancia followed with a 2-run triple and later scored on a passed ball to put the Vaqueros up 5-3.
With two outs in the fourth, the Vaqueros put two on to set up another Moomau RBI-single to make the score 6-3.
The Vaqueros saw their lead cut to 6-5 entering the sixth, but with runners on the corners and one out, Lancia hit an infield RBI-single, Williams hit a 2-run double, and Warren hit an RBI-single to make the score 10-5.
The Cardinals (17-29, 3-23 SLC) scored against freshman
Harrison Thayer in the first, as after a one-out infield-single by
Rob Liddington,
Rey Mendoza hit an RBI-double and
Ryan Scott homered to make the score 3-0.
Thayer retired the next nine batters he faced before
Tyler Cowan homered with one out in the fourth to bring the Cardinals within 6-4.
Mendoza added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make the score 6-5.
In the seventh, Liddington hit a 2-run triple to bring the Cardinals within 10-7.
In his first-career start, Thayer pitched 6.1 innings, striking out five.
In the eighth,
Jake Weaver hit a 2-run double and
Gray Bane hit an RBI-single to tie the game at 10.
UTRGV and Incarnate Word close out this 3-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. on
ESPN+.
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