HOUSTON – Junior
Armani Raygoza became the all-time leading home run hitter for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team by hitting his 32
nd and 33
rd career home runs in a 17-10 victory over the Houston Christian University (HCU) Huskies on Saturday at Husky Field.
By winning the first two games of the series, the Vaqueros (12-11, 7-4 SLC) have now clinched their third-straight Southland Conference series victory.
Raygoza's first home run, the record-breaker, was a three-run shot that traveled 426' to right center to cap a five-run fourth and give the Vaqueros a 7-3 lead. Junior
Rocco Garza Gongora hit a two-run single earlier in the inning to give the Vaqueros the lead.
In the seventh, Raygoza blasted a 469' two-run shot over the scoreboard in right, his 10
th of the season. Later in that inning, senior
Damien Whitfield stole second, moved to third when the throw went into center field and scored when the center fielder over ran the ball, putting the Vaqueros up 16-7.
While passing former teammate
Brandon Pimentel (31, 2022-23) for the program home run record, Raygoza finished 3-for-6 with a season-high five RBI and two runs scored. It was his fourth-career multi-home run game. Pimentel also broke the program home run record with a multi-home run effort in a conference road game.
His next time up, in the fifth, Garza Gongora belted a three-run home run 407' to right, his third of the season, to put the Vaqueros up 10-3.
In the sixth, the Vaqueros put two on with one out, setting up an RBI-single by graduate student PSJA alum
Diego Villescas and a two-run double off the left center wall by graduate student Vela alum
Rudy Gonzalez to make the score 13-3.
Garza Gongora finished a season-high tying 3-for-5 with a walk, a triple short of the cycle, with a career-high five RBI and a season-high tying three runs scored. Villescas went 2-for-5 with a wall, an RBI and two runs scored. Senior
Thomas Williams extended his hitting streak to 13 games by going 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Junior PSJA alum
Julius Ramirez went a season-high tying 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored.
That made a winner of sophomore
Harrison Thayer (4-1), who was perfect through his first 2.2 innings of relief. In the sixth, however, the Huskies loaded the bases with nobody out, setting up a
Zach Munton sacrifice fly and a
Nico Defazio RBI-single, a
Jeremy Rader RBI-single, and a
Graham Laxton sacrifice fly to bring the Huskies (11-11, 4-4 SLC) within 13-7.
Defazio and Rader added RBI-singles and
Walker Bazile scored on a passed ball in the seventh to make the score 16-10.
The Vaqueros got on run back in the ninth when Gonzalez drew a bases loaded walk to extend the lead to 17-10.
The Huskies got on the board in the second as
Luke Bard hit a leadoff double, and one out later,
Preston Curtis hit an RBI-double to make the score 1-0.
The Vaqueros responded against
Joshua Caravalho (1-4) in the third, as with one out, Garza Gongora doubled and Williams hit an RBI-single, advancing to second on the throw. After a groundout moved Wiliams to third, Ramirez hit an RBI-single to put the Vaqueros up 2-1.
In the bottom of the inning, though, the Huskies put two on with one out to set-up a two-run double by Bard to make the score 3-2.
UTRGV goes for the three-game sweep on Sunday at 2 p.m. on
ESPN+.
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