UTRGV rallies past Southern Illinois for opening night victory

EDINBURG —The UTRGV Vaqueros baseball team used a four-run sixth inning to come from behind and beat the Southern Illinois University (SIU) Huskies 8-4 on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,937, the largest opening night crowd in program history.

The previous program record for largest opening night crowd was 3,604, set on Feb. 1, 2003 for a game against Texas State.

Down 4-2 entering the sixth, junior Damien Whitfield was plunked and then junior Thomas Williams doubled. Sophomore Easton Moomau followed with a game-tying double against Jordan Huskey (0-1). Two batters later, with the bases loaded, senior Hank Warren hit into a fielder’s choice to bring home a run and then freshman Cameron Carter came up with a sacrifice fly to put the Vaqueros (1-0) up 6-4.

The Vaqueros tacked on a run in the seven when Moomau singled to bring home Williams, and another in the eighth on a 2-out single by Whitfield.

Moomau finished 2-for-4 with a career-high tying three RBI and scored once. Williams went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. 

Junior Wyatt Wiatrek (1-0) earned his first-career win by pitching 5.0 innings of hitless relief, striking out six. He faced the minimum 15 batters as the only batter to reach, on a hit by pitch, was erased by a double play.

Junior Steven Oliva pitched a hitless ninth, striking out one. It was Oliva’s collegiate debut, and it is believed that he became the first Guatemalan pitcher and sixth Guatemalan player in NCAA Division I baseball history.

The Salukis (0-1) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Michael Mylott sacrifice fly.

In the second, the Vaqueros put runners on the corners with one out. Carter took off from first and stole second, allowing sophomore Armani Raygoza to steal home to tie the game. One out later, postbaccalaureate student Erick Martinez singled in the first base hole to bring home Carter and give the Vaqueros a 2-1 lead.

The Salukis scored three runs in the third to take the lead on a 2-run double by Mylott and an error that later brought Mylott home. 

UTRGV and SIU play game two of this 3-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. Fans with tickets to Saturday’s 2 p.m. UTRGV basketball doubleheader against Houston Christian can use their tickets to get free admission to the baseball 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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