EDINBURG – The UTRGV baseball team tied the game in the 11th and brought the winning run to the plate in the 13th before falling to the Houston Cougars 7-5 on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,144.
This was UTRGV’s longest game since April 13, 2019, an 8-5 win at Grand Canyon.
It was also the first matchup between UTRGV and Houston in the Rio Grande Valley since Feb. 15, 1995, when they split a doubleheader at Jody Ramsey Stadium.
This is the third time UTRGV has drawn over 3,000 fans for a game at UTRGV Baseball Stadium since moving in for the 2002 season. The other two occurrences were a program record 6,418 fans for a game against Texas on April 26, 2022, and 3,604 fans for a game against Texas State on Feb. 1, 2003.
The Vaqueros (6-3) led 2-1 entering the ninth when the Cougars (4-5) tied the game on a double, a sac bunt and an error.
The Cougars took the lead in the 11th on an RBI-single by Malachi Lott. In the bottom of the inning, though, sophomore Vela alum Isaac Lopez launched his third home run of the season to tie the game.
The Cougars plated four runs in the 13th against junior Sebastian Mejia (0-2) on a two-run single by Lott, a suicide squeeze by Ian McMillan and an error.
Mejia finished with a career-high tying five strikeouts in a season-high 2.2 innings of relief.
With one out in the bottom of the inning, the Vaqueros put runners on the corners against Josh Ekness (1-0), setting up a Lopez RBI-single that led to two runs thanks to an error. Graduate student Montclair Cain followed with a four-pitch walk to bring the winning run to the plate, but Owen Woodward got a strikeout and a groundout to end the game.
Graduate student Jesus Aldaz started for the Vaqueros and pitched a career-high 8.0 innings, striking out six while allowing one run on six hits without a walk.
After allowing a run on three hits, including a two-out RBI-single by Anthony Tulimero, in the first, Aldaz settled down, allowing just four more base runners and never more than one at a time. Aldaz retired the final nine batters he faced.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the bottom of the first on a wild pitch that scored senior Zerek Saenz.
The Vaqueros took the lead in the second on a two-out bases loaded walk by Cain.
Lopez finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored. Freshman Steven Lancia went 2-for-6 with a run scored. Senior Roberto Gonzalez also went 2-for-6. Saenz finished 1-for-3 with a season-high three walks and two runs scored.
UTRGV and Houston play the middle game of this three-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at GoUTRGV.com/Houston. This game is Community Heroes Night, meaning community heroes, including frontline workers, first responders, and teachers, receive free admission. It’s also UTRGV faculty & staff appreciation weekend. Current UTRGV faculty & staff receive free admission with their employee ID. 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. The box office opens at 1 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m.