The UTRGV baseball team was outdueled 14-8 by the Central Michigan Chippewas (CMU) on Tuesday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.
UTRGV (3-1) senior starting pitcher J.C. Ariza recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work and the pitching staff combined to strike out 22 batters – the most in a single game since at least 2014. Senior centerfielder Zerek Saenz blasted two solo homeruns and was joined by sophomore catcher Steven Lancia, redshirt sophomore Vela alum Isaac Lopez and graduate student right fielder Montclair Cain with two hits each. Lancia drove in a team-high and career-high three RBI while knocking two doubles. Senior designated hitter Roberto Gonzalez drove in two runs. Ariza took the loss on the mound.
CMU (3-1) was helped by a pair of three-run homeruns from Luke Sefcik and Robby Morgan IV. Morgan notched a game-high five RBI. Garrett Navarra went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Evan Waters picked up the win, tossing two hitless innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
Ariza got off to a hot start, striking out the side in the top of the first. But the Chippewas came back in the second to take a 3-0 lead after a three-run homerun by Sefcik that carried with the wind over the left field wall. Ariza came right back to record his fifth and sixth strikeouts to end the frame.
UTRGV trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the home half of the second inning. Redshirt junior left fielder Adrian Torres showcased his speed to reach on a fielder’s choice to second, then went first-to-home on a RBI double down the third base line by Lancia. Lancia came around to score following a RBI single by junior shortstop Kade York.
The Vaqueros jumped on top 4-3 and chased CMU starting pitcher Ben Vitas from the game in the bottom of the third. Saenz opened the frame with a solo home run to left, then Roberto Gonzalez delivered a go-ahead RBI single to center that scored Lopez after he reached on a single.
Ariza struck out the side in the fourth to reach 10 strikeouts in a game for the first time in his career.
But in the top of the fifth, Morgan sent a two-out, three-run homerun off the light pole in left field to put the Chippewas back on top 6-4, ending Ariza’s night. The senior allowed five hits and six earned runs. CMU added a run on a RBI single by Jake Brill off redshirt senior relief pitcher Alex Verdugo.
Lopez and Cain strung together back-to-back singles to start a big bottom of the fifth for the Vaqueros. Gonzalez worked a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 7-5, then Lancia smoked a two-RBI double down the first base line to tie the battle at 7-7.
CMU took advantage of defensive miscues to retake the lead, 11-7, in the top of the sixth. An error at shortstop and another in left field on the same play following a bases-loaded shot by Morgan allowed three runs to score. Morgan crossed home following a wild pitch.
UTRGV loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the frame but Waters worked out of the jam. The Chippewas added a run in the seventh after a bases-loaded walk, then redshirt sophomore pitcher Jack Lopez took the mound and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage and leave the bases juiced.
CMU extended the lead to 14-7 with a two-RBI single by Cole Prout in the eighth.
Saenz hit his second homerun of the game in the bottom of the eighth, making it 14-8. Jack Lopez and graduate student Abanny Garcia both tallied a career-high four strikeouts.
The Vaqueros and Chippewas will face off again in a four-game series starting with a single-admission doubleheader Friday at 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com.