UTRGV baseball rallies past Southeastern in series finale

HAMMOND, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, which is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the sixth week in a row, scored five runs over the final three innings to beat the Southeastern Lions 8-5 on Saturday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

The Vaqueros (26-13, 17-7 SLC) trailed 5-3 entering the seventh. Junior Thomas Williams and senior Hank Warren led off with singles against Aiden Vosburg (2-2). Two outs later, with the runners at second and third, graduate student Vela alum Isaac Lopez hit a game-tying single. Sophomore Armani Raygoza followed with his 11^th home run of the season to give the Vaqueros a 7-5 lead.

Lopez finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Williams went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Raygoza now has 17 home runs in his career, tied for the 11^th-highest total in program history.

Williams hit his third home run of the season in the eighth, a solo shot, to put the Vaqueros up 8-5.

That made a winner of junior Wyatt Wiatrek (6-0), who struck out four in 4.0 innings of relief.

Senior Anthony Tejada pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out three, for his first save.

The first three Vaqueros reached to load the bases in the first. Sophomore Easton Moomau and senior Steven Lancia followed with RBI-groundouts to put the Vaqueros up 2-0.

Mo Little homered off junior Los Fresnos alum Víctor Loa in the second to bring the Lions (31-9, 16-5 SLC) within 2-1.

That was it against Loa, who struck out four in 3.0 innings on short rest.

The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Evan Janner led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI-single by junior Damien Whitfield.

In the bottom of the inning, though, TJ Salvaggio hit a 2-run home run against Wiatrek to tie the game at 3.

His next time up, Salvaggio hit a 2-run double to give the Lions a 5-3 lead in the sixth.

UTRGV hosts Incarnate Word for a non-conference game on $2 Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. Fans can purchase general admission tickets and select concession items for $2 or less. It’s also ‘90s Night. Fans are invited to play ‘90s trivia throughout the game and are encouraged to wear ’90s style clothes while enjoying the totally rad ’90s music that will be played throughout the game.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. Fans can find a full list of game day information at RallyTheValley.com. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.

Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via Southland International.

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