RIO GRANDE VALLEY – In his first-career start, junior Mission alum
Carlos Vallejo pitched 4.0 hitless innings to lead The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team to a 5-1 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, on Saturday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 5,213, the ninth largest in program history.
Vallejo was perfect through 3.2 innings before allowing his lone baserunner on a walk. The 4.0 innings and 54 pitches thrown (36 strikes) are both career highs. He struck out three while getting five groundouts and four flyouts.
Sophomore
Harrison Thayer followed in relief, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out two. He didn't allow a hit until there were two outs in the sixth.
Graduate student
Colton Vercoe (1-3) closed out the game with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out three while allowing one hit for his first win.
The Vaqueros (14-13, 9-5 SLC) put two on with two out against
Luke Singleton (2-3) in the first, setting up an RBI-single by junior
Easton Moomau to make the score 1-0.
The Vaqueros scored twice more in the fourth on an RBI-fielder's choice by graduate student Vela alum
Rudy Gonzalez and a two-out RBI-single by junior
Rocco Garza Gongora to make the score 3-0.
The Islanders (12-14, 2-8 SLC) scored their lone run in the seventh on an RBI-groundout by
Max Towchick.
In the eighth, senior
Hank Warren led off with a double and then sophomore Sharyland Pioneer alum
Andy Chapa hit his first career home run 359' to left to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 5-1.
Chapa finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Junior
Armani Raygoza also reached three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi complete this series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Every Sunday is Family Fun Day, during which fans can get four general admission tickets, four drinks, and four hot dogs for $44. It's also Salute to Service Day. UTRGV Athletics donated 200 tickets to the Veteran Tickets Foundation that can be claimed by veterans via for
Vet Tix.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with a digital ticket that can be acquired at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets while also showing their student ID. Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy, by visiting
RallyTheValley.com.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
Southland International.
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