SAN ANTONIO – Junior
Hank Warren hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh to propel 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, past the Incarnate Word Cardinals 14-10 in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday at Sullivan Field.
Game two gets underway at 4:30 p.m. on
ESPN+.
The Vaqueros (31-15, 20-8 SLC) led 6-2 after three and a half innings, but the Cardinals (17-28, 3-22 SLC) scored four runs over the next three innings to tie the game.
Warren came up in the seventh with a runner on and nobody out and launched his first home run of the season against
EJ Garcia (4-5) to give the Vaqueros an 8-6 lead.
The Vaqueros scored six more runs in the eighth, as with the bases loaded and one out, junior
Thomas Williams hit a 2-run single and Warren hit an RBI-single. After a single by postbaccalaureate student
Erick Martinez, a wild pitch scored Williams. Junior
Damien Whitfield followed with a sacrifice fly and then graduate student vela alum
Isaac Lopez hit an infield RBI-single to put the Vaqueros up 14-6.
Warren finished a career-best 4-for-6 with a career-high four RBI, two runs scored and a career-high two stolen bases. Sophomore
Easton Moomau went 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored. Senior
Steven Lancia finished 2-for-5 with a walk, a career-high tying two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Martinez finished a season-best 2-for-5 with a walk and a run scored.
Junior Sharyland alum
Kike Cienfuegos (2-0) earned the win with 3.1 innings of relief.
The Cardinals scored Cienfuegos came in the eighth on a 2-run home run by
Daniel Calabrese and again in the ninth on a 2-run home run by
Jake Weaver.
The Vaqueros didn't allow Cardinals starter
Carter Poole to record an out. Lopez started the game by getting hit by a pitch and then sophomore
Armani Raygoza drew a four-pitch walk. Graduate student PSJA alum
Jacob Sanchez followed with an RBI-single. A wild pitch scored Raygoza during a four-pitch walk to Moomau, ending the day for Poole. The Vaqueros didn't let up, though, as Lancia hit an RBI-double, and one out later, Warren hit an RBI-single to put the Vaqueros up 4-0.
The Cardinals responded in the third when
Rob Liddington and
Ryan Scott hit RBI-singles to make the score 4-2.
In the fourth, the Vaqueros put two on with two out. Moomau singled to left to bring in a run. A misplay in left allowed the second run to score to put the Vaqueros up 6-2.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, though,
Gray Bane homered, Calabrese got plunked, and
Thomas Lyssy hit an RBI-double to bring the Cardinals within 6-4.
The Cardinals added another run in the fifth on a Weaver groundout to make the score 6-5.
The Cardinals tied the game at 6 in the sixth when, with two outs, Lyssy hit a liner to center that dropped in for a hit. Whitfield was unable to field the ball cleanly, allowing Lyssy to advance to third. Liddington followed with an RBI-single.
Support UTRGV Baseball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
