UTRGV BASEBALL DROPS NON-CONFERENCE CONTEST TO UIW
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 seventh week in a row, fell to the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 10-2 in a non-conference game on Tuesday in front of a crowd of 4,408, the program’s eighth-largest crowd since moving into UTRGV Baseball Stadium in 2002 and fourth-largest of the season.
Senior Jacob Limas started and pitched 4.0 innings of 1-hit ball, striking out five. The only hit was an infield-single and he didn’t walk anybody.
Limas left with the lead as the Vaqueros (26-14) scored in the third on a sacrifice fly by graduate student PSJA alum Jacob Sanchez to go up 1-0.
In the fifth, however, the Cardinals (16-25) took the lead when Daniel Calabrese hit a 2-run home run off freshman Harrison Thayer (2-2).
The Cardinals plated five runs in the sixth. AJ Herrera led off with a home run. Then, with the bases loaded and two outs, Thomas Lyssy hit a 3-run double and Rob Liddington hit an RBI-single to make the score 7-1.
The Cardinals added two more runs in the seventh on a wild pitch and an RBI-single by Ryder Hernandez to go up 9-1.
Rob Liddington homered to lead off the eight, putting the Cardinals up 10-1.
That made a winner of EJ Garcia (5-4), who pitched 5.0 of scoreless relief, striking out five while allowing five hits and one walk.
The Vaqueros added a run in the ninth when, with the bases loaded and nobody out, graduate student Vela alum Isaac Lopez hit into a double play to bring home senior Hank Warren.
UTRGV (17-7 SLC) opens a three-game Southland Conference series against McNeese (16-5 SLC) Friday at 6:30 p.m. The winner of the series could find itself in first place and will likely find itself in a position to host the first weekend of the Southland Conference Tournament as one of the top two teams in the conference. It’s Lucha Libre Night, presented by media partner KYWW Puro Tejano 1530 AM and KGBT 98.5 La Preferida. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive free Lucha Libre masks. There will be a Lucha Libre exhibition in a ring on the concourse at 5:45 p.m.
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.
