UTRGV’s Baseball Team won its home-opener game (5-0) in a series of four against Kansas State University 7 p.m. Friday at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Vaqueros (1-0) took the lead in the first inning on an RBI-double by senior Conrado Diaz followed by a sacrifice fly by senior Christian Sepulveda.
Making his collegiate debut was junior Kevin Stevens who pitched five hitless innings, striking out nine batters.
“[I] feel really good,” Stevens said. “Everything was working for me today. I really just went out there, [tried] to trust my teammates as much as I could.”
He said a victory like this adds momentum to the team to continue moving forward during the rest of the season.
“Come out against [Kansas State University], a really good team, Big 12 obviously … it’s a lot of momentum that’s for sure,” Stevens said. “So, I’m just excited for the rest of the season.”
The Vaqueros added two more runs in the fifth inning, an RBI-double by senior Andy Atwood and a sacrifice fly by senior Elijah Alexander.
“I thought our guys competed really well,” Baseball Head Coach Derek Matlock said. “[They] had a lot of energy and showed some maturity against a really good arm.”
Despite the win, Matlock said he wants the players to keep their eyes on the ball and focus for the upcoming games.
“You take a good win, you flush it, you leave it behind and you go forward,” he said.
Edinburg-native redshirt junior John Henry Gonzalez took over Stevens in the sixth inning and made his debut back home since making his first appearances with Texas State University as a freshman in 2017.
Gonzalez said he embraced how much he enjoyed being back home.
“It’s just like high school,” he said. “Everybody comes out. … It’s fun to see everyone support me, support the school and we’re gonna change this program around, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The Vaqueros ended the game with a double play from Atwood, Sepulveda and junior Freddy Rojas Jr.
UTRGV will continue with game two at 2 p.m. today at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
