UTRGV sweeps New Orleans, off to best start since 2012

NEW ORLEANS – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team completed its second-straight Southland Conference series sweep by beating the New Orleans Privateers 9-2 on Sunday at Maestri Field, marking the Vaqueros’ seventh-straight win.

The Vaqueros (11-2, 6-0 SLC) last won seven in a row April 11-30, 2021.

The Vaqueros are off to their best overall start since 2012, when they also started 11-2.

The Vaqueros are off to their best conference start since 2012, when they started 8-0 in Great West Conference play.

Junior Thomas Williams led the Vaqueros offensively by hitting his first-career home run while going 2-for-4 with a career-high tying three RBI. Senior Hank Warren went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

The Vaqueros got on the board against Matthew Bienvenu (0-1) right away, as graduate student Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout before scoring on an RBI-groundout by sophomore Easton Moomau to make the score 1-0.

That was it until the fourth, when the Vaqueros loaded the bases with nobody out. Freshman Cameron Carter and Warren walked to force-in runs. Sophomore Evan Janner hit into a fielder’s choice to bring home a run. One batter later, Williams and sophomore Easton Moomau hit back-to-back RBI-singles to put the Vaqueros up 6-0.

Senior Jacob Limas (1-0) held the Privateers (7-7, 2-4 SLC) off the board until the fifth, when with two on and two out, Bryce Calloway hit a grounder to short that ate up Lopez and went into left to bring home a run and make the score 6-1.

Limas pitched a season-high 5.2 innings, striking out four.

The Vaqueros responded by putting runners at second and third with nobody out in the top of the sixth. Lopez hit a sacrifice fly and Williams followed with a 2-run home run to make the score 9-1.

Junior Caden Wanless struck out a career-high five in a career-high 2.1 innings of relief.

The lone baserunner against Wanless was a 2-out home run by Tristan Moore in the eighth.

UTRGV wraps up this five-game road trip at No. 20 Southern Mississippi on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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