BEAUMONT – No. 3 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team opened Southland Conference Tournament Bracket Play with a 6-4 loss to the No. 6 Northwestern State Demons on Thursday at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
UTRGV will play an elimination game against the loser of No. 2 Lamar and No. 7 Stephen F. Austin Friday at 1 p.m. on
ESPN+.
Junior
Rocco Garza Gongora led the Vaqueros (26-28) offensively by going 2-for-4 with a career-high tying two doubles and two runs scored. Garza Gongora now has 21 doubles this season, breaking a tie for second most in a season in program history and just two behind
Garrett Bivone (23, 2010) for the program record. Junior
Armani Raygoza went 2-for-2 with a season-high tying two doubles, two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
Senior Sharyland alum
Kike Cienfuegos (7-3) struck out the side in the first, but he also plunked
Brooks Leonard, who moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a steal before scoring on an
Ethan Menard single. Menard scored on a
JT Simonelli double to put the Demons (26-24) up 2-0.
The Vaqueros responded with three doubles in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Garza Gongora started with a ground-rule double down the left field line. Our out later, Raygoza hit an RBI-double down the right field line. One out after that, junior
Easton Moomau tied the game with a double to right-center.
In the second,
Sam Ardoin hit a two-run home run. Then, with a runner at first and two outs, Menard hit an RBI-double to knock out Cienfuegos with the Demons up 5-2.
The Vaqueros loaded the bases with nobody out in the third, setting up a two-run single by junior PSJA alum
Julius Ramirez to bring the Vaqueros within 5-4.
The Demons put two on with two out in the fourth.
Thomas Marsala III grounded out to bring home a run and put the Demons up 6-4.
That was the only run allowed by graduate student
Colton Vercoe, who pitched a career-high 5.1 innings of two-hit relief, striking out five.
That made a winner of
Jacob LeBlanc (4-2), who pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out four.
Wesley Marien pitched 1.1 scoreless innings for his third save.
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