The Vaqueros defeated the UNC Bears 3-2 on Friday night at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium. UTRGV’s junior infielder Christian Sepulveda hit a single in the bottom of the 1oth to lead his team to reach its first home conference victory.
UTRGV Baseball improved its record to 16-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play in the Western Athletic Conference home opener game with a crowd of 1,085 people.
The Vaqueros scored their first run of the night in the bottom of the first inning. Sepulveda hit a double that led second infielder Anthony Gomez to run from second base to home.
UNC tied the game after senior infielder Tyler Yamaguchi hit a single through the left side that led senior right-hand pitcher Sam Leach to advance to home and score a run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Gomez lifted a sacrifice fly to the right field. Junior outfielder Elijah Alexander took the opportunity to make a run and put the Vaqueros in a 2-1 lead.
The Bears tied the game again 2-2 in the top of the ninth. Leach scored his second run of the night after sophomore infielder Jack Gitter hit a single.
After nine innings, both teams remained tied. So, they played an extra 10th inning to get the opportunity to reach the victory.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Vaqueros junior outfielder Coleman Grubbs hit a single to the left field, followed by junior infielder Hunter Lessard’s walk because of a wild pitch, which also made Grubbs move to second base. Then, junior corner infielder Tyler Torres bunted a single, and Lessard advanced to second and Grubbs to third.
Vaqueros sophomore catcher Oliver Closner IV struck out swinging. But after that, Sepulveda made a hit to left field that let Grubbs advance home, scoring a run and reaching a 3-2 triumph over the Bears.
Sepulveda was asked about the momentum gained in Friday’s opener and if the team would continue keeping it.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “We gonna try to come out tomorrow firing and just trying to get another dub.”
UTRGV will play its second and third game of the series against the University of Northern Colorado at 2 and 6 p.m. today at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
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