The UTRGV baseball team fell to the California Baptist Lancers 8-3 on Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium to lose its WAC opening series 1-2.
Down 8-0, the Vaqueros (9-6, 1-2 WAC) got on the board in the fifth, loading the bases on one-out walks before graduate student Brandon Pimentel hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-1.
In the seventh, the Vaqueros put runners at first and second with nobody out. Pimentel singled to left. The ball was bobbled, allowing sophomore Vela alum Isaac Lopez to score and graduate student Montclair Cain to move to third. Cain scored on a wild pitch to make the score 8-3.
Senior Roberto Gonzalez led the Vaqueros by going a career-best 4-for-5 with a double. Pimentel finished 2-for-4. Cain drew a career-high three walks.
The Lancers (8-7, 2-1 WAC) pushed across a pair of unearned runs against graduate studentColten Davis (2-1) in the second, as with two on and two out, CJ Masciel and Julian Alvarez hit RBI-singles to make the score 2-0.
The Lancers strung together four-straight hits after the first batter was retired in the third, including RBI-singles by Garret Ostrander and Connor McGuire, to go up 4-0.
The Lancers added another unearned run in the fourth as, with Alvarez at second and two outs, a pitch in the dirt caused Alvarez to take off for third. Senior Vela alum RJ Ochoa picked up the ball and took a few steps toward Alvarez, who froze. Ochoa threw to second, but the throw went into center field, allowing Alvarez to score to make the score 5-0.
That made a winner of Jacob Wilson (5-0), who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
UTRGV hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, on $2 Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. General admission tickets and select concession items are available for $2 or less. Tickets are on sale now atUTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.