UTRGV baseball falls against Northwestern State

NATCHITOCHES, La. – The UTRGV baseball team, which is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the fourth week in a row, fell to the Northwestern State Demons 8-5 in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday at Brown-Stroud Field.

Senior Steven Lancia led the Vaqueros (21-10, 13-5 SLC) offensively by going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Freshman Cameron Carter went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

Braden Benton led off the second with a home run to put the Demons (20-12, 12-6 SLC) up 1-0.

The Vaqueros responded by sending 10 batters to the plate to take a 4-1 lead in the third. Graduate student PSJA High alumnus Jacob Sanchez, Carter, and graduate student Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez started the inning with singles. Junior Thomas Williams hit a chopper to second that Hudson Brignac couldn’t handle, allowing two runs to score. Back-to-back wild pitches allowed Lopez to score and Williams to move to third. Lancia capped the inning with an RBI-single.

The Demons loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, setting up a run-scoring walk by Benton to make the score 4-2. Junior Caden Wanless came into the game and struck out Daniel Burroway to end the inning.

Wanless pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out two, after junior Los Fresnos alumnus Víctor Loa struck out six in 4.2 innings.

The Demons scratched across an unearned run on a Burroway RBI-fielder’s choice with two outs in the seventh to make the score 4-3.

The Vaqueros got that run back in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by junior Rene Galván against Carter White (2-1) that made the score 5-3.

The Demons put runners at first and second to start the eighth, setting up a Brignac RBI-double to knock out Robert Bonilla (1-2). Senior Jacob Limas came in and struck out the first two batters he faced. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, though, Benton hit a grand slam to give the Demons an 8-5 lead.

The Vaqueros tried to rally in the ninth, as Lopez doubled and Raygoza walked to bring the tying run to the plate, but Bryce Leonard recorded the final out for his first save.

UTRGV won Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader 8-5.

The Edinburg Vela alumnus Lopez led the Vaqueros in Game 1 by going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Carter went 2-for-5 with a triple and a career-high tying two runs scored. Williams finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

The Vaqueros close out this 10-game road trip at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Louisiana. Fans can watch on ESPN+.

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