The UTRGV baseball team beat the Lamar Cardinals 6-1 on Sunday at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont to clinch both weekend (2-1) and season (4-2) series victories.
The Vaqueros (29-20, 14-10 WAC) and Cardinals (29-19, 14-10 WAC) are now tied for second place in the Western Athletic Conference Southwest Division standings with six games remaining.
Bryan Sturges led the Vaqueros offensively by going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a career-high tying five RBIs and one run scored. Cameron Blake went a career-high tying 3-for-4 with an RBI and a career-high tying two runs scored. Junior Brandon Pimentel finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Sturges launched a three-run home run off Daniel Cole (2-3) to give the Vaqueros a 3-0 lead during the first. Sturges now has a career-high eight home runs this season.
Blake hit a two-out RBI single during the second to make the score 4-0.
This was it until the fifth, when Sturges hit a two-run double to make the score 6-0.
That made a winner of freshman Randy Garza (2-1), who struck out two while scattering two hits and three walks in a career-high seven innings.
The Cardinals scored their run during the ninth when Kelby Weyler hit into a fielder’s choice.
UTRGV plays its final three home games against first place Sam Houston at 7 p.m. Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.