RIO GRANDE VALLEY – In game two of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team's annual Orange & Gray World Series, the Orange pitching staff allowed only one hit in their 3-0 win over Gray Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
 
Sophomore Alvin CC transfer Cole Fenton earned the start for Orange and set the tone with four strikeouts in two innings of work. Then sophomore Augie Grohman followed with a similarly dominant performance striking out four across two innings. Senior Ruben Gonzalez, graduate student Davis Luikart, and junior Carlos Morales combined for four strikeouts across the final two innings.
 
Offensively, graduate student Armani Raygoza hit his second home run of the series, a towering shot that went 376 feet into the Orange bullpen. Sophomore PSJA alum Jacob Delgadillo went two-for three on the day. Meanwhile, Morales and seniors Nathan Houston and DJ Pinkerton all earned a hit with two outs to bring in the first two runs of the game.
 
Gray received shutout performances from freshman Hector Arellano and senior Carlos Vallejo on the mound. Arellano pitched one inning and allowed only one hit across 12 pitches in the third inning. Then, Vallejo struck out all three batters in the fourth inning.
 
First Inning
 
Senior Mason Engel earned the start for Gray and opened the game with back-to-back strikeouts of junior Andy Chapa and freshman Mateo Garcia. Prior to striking out, Garcia hit a foul ball that sailed 363 feet and curled just left of the foul pole. Raygoza stepped up to the plate and hit a fly ball into deep left center that bounced just off the wall at 378 feet for a standup double. With Orange threatening, Engel forced Delgadillo into a lineout to end the top of the first on just 18 pitches.
 
Meanwhile, Fenton worked a clean 1-2-3 inning on the mound for Orange with only nine pitches.
 
Second Inning
 
Engel started the second inning just as he ended the first, forcing both junior Gael Salinas and freshman Matthew Ortiz into swinging strikeouts. However, Orange responded with three consecutive two out hits as Morales hit a single just over the head of Engel on the mound, Houston doubled into shallow left field, and Pinkerton scored the pair with a double into center field, giving Orange a 2-0 lead. A hard-hit flyout to left field by Chapa ended the top half of the second.
 
Fenton struck out the side to emphatically hold the Orange lead at 2-0 in the bottom of the second. Fenton fanned senior PSJA alum Julius Ramirez, junior Santa Ana College transfer Nate Williams, and senior Edinburg Vela alum Rudy Gonzalez with 16 pitches.
 
Third Inning
 
Arellano came out of the bullpen for Gray in the third inning. Arellano forced Garcia into a grounder to shortstop and Raygoza to hit into a shift to Gray's second baseman in shallow right field. After a Delgadillo double, Arellano helped record the final out of the inning as he hit a hard chopper down, stepped off the mound, grabbed the ball, slipped towards third base, but still made the throw to first in time for the final out.
 
Grohman entered the game for Orange and picked up right where Fenton left off. On a 1-2 count and six pitches thrown, Grohman forced freshman Cutter Warren into a ground out to shortstop. Then, with only seven pitches, Grohman fanned both graduate student McAllen High alum Christopher Bernal and Garza Gongora to end the third.
 
Fourth Inning
 
Vallejo stepped up to the mound and struck out the side with a great mix of blistering fastballs and timely breaking pitches.
 
Grohman returned to the mound for Orange and continued to dominate, striking out both Ruedas and Moomau. Then, with two outs, Ramirez roped a hard-hit ball, 103mph off the bat, all the way to the warning track but the ball landed in the glove of the awaiting Pinkerton in deep center field.
 
Fifth Inning
 
Freshman Davian Garcia made his first appearance for Gray. With one out, Ruedas gloved a hard-hit ball with a fantastic sliding effort, hopped up, and threw a rocket to first to get Chapa out. Mateo Garcia reached on a hit-by-pitch before being caught stolen by Gonzalez.
 
Ruben Gonzalez stepped onto the mound for Orange. With one out, Ruben Gonzalez found himself down early in the count to Rudy Gonzalez, 2-0, before working it back to an even 2-2. After a few foul balls, Ruben Gonzalez forced a foul tip strikeout to keep the perfect game. Ruben Gonzalez then forced Warren into a pop up to shortstop to end the inning.
 
Sixth Inning
 
Raygoza brought the crowd to life with a towering home run into the Orange bullpen in right field. Raygoza's ball left his bat at 106 mph for his second home run of the series. The next batter, Delgadillo, got on base with a rocket single that left the bat at 101 mph through the left side. Gray pitcher, Garcia, settled back in, forcing Salinas into a fielder's choice. Ortiz stepped into the box and worked a full count but missed on Garcia's final pitch of the outing.
 
With two outs and Salinas at first, Gray called on junior Bennett Percival out of the bullpen. This was the first mid-inning call to the bullpen for either team in the series. Percival stepped in to face Morales. Morales hit a soft grounder to Moomau at second who made the pitch to Ruedas at shortstop to record the final out for Gray.
 
Luikart stepped onto the mound with a save opportunity for Orange. Working quickly, Luikart struck out Bernal in just three pitches. Then, Garza Gongora stepped up to the plate. Garza Gongora, had been quiet to start the series, lasting without a hit until this at-bat; then, he hit a hard grounder that deflected off Luikart's leg and through the right side to break up Orange's perfect game.
 
Luikart didn't wait too long to get back on track as he forced Ruedas into a swing-and-miss strikeout. With two outs, Garza Gongora at first, and Moomau up to bat, Orange went to the bullpen for the final time, bringing in catcher and the then-designated hitter Morales to pitch. Morales used a blistering fastball to force Moomau into a 1-2 count. With the final pitch, Morales hit 94 mph to strikeout Moomau and secure the Orange sweep.
 
The end of the series marks the end of fall ball for the UTRGV Baseball team. The Vaqueros will now turn their attention to the spring season.
 
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