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EDINBURG — The UTRGV baseball team fought back from an eight-run deficit to create a tie with Sam Houston entering the final inning of its home finale Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, only to see Bearkats respond with a five-run ninth to take down the Vaqueros 15-11.
The Vaqueros dropped to 30-22 overall and rank third in Western Athletic Conference’s (WAC) Southwest Division with a 15-12 record. The Bearkats are first in the Southwest at 29-21 overall and 19-8 in conference. UTRGV has already clinched a spot in the WAC Baseball Tournament on May 25-28 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.
“I thought we come all the way back to tie that thing up, showed some grit and fight like we do, then we couldn’t throw the ball in the strike zone. That was frustrating,” UTRGV head coach Derek Matlock said. “That’s a bad moment, but it is what it is. It’s inexpensive experience. It doesn’t really matter what seed we are (in the WAC tournament). We can beat anyone in the league if we play good. It’s not like we’re stressing if we’re a lower seed, it doesn’t matter if we play the best seed — if we play good, we will win. If we don’t play good, it doesn’t matter if we play a low seed, we will lose. That’s just the way it is.”
Trailing 10-2 during the bottom of the seventh, the Vaqueros launched three home runs — a two-run bomb by right fielder Freddy Rojas Jr. and solo blasts from third baseman Chris Mondesi and designated hitter Cameron Blake.
The Vaqueros pulled even with back-to-back four-run innings as a bases loaded walk by catcher Raul Ortega brought one in during the eighth, which set up Edinburg Vela alum and shortstop Isaac Lopez to clear the bases with a three-RBI double.
The Bearkats broke the tie with a two-out rally during the top of the ninth as a bases loaded walk gave up the go-ahead run off Zach Tjelmeland. Sam Houston followed with a two-run single by Easton Loyd and two-run double by Myles Jefferson to jump in front for good 15-10.
The Vaqueros added one run with the bases loaded during the ninth off an RBI groundout by Rojas.
Lopez led UTRGV with a 2-for-4 day and four RBIs. Rojas is now tied for 10th in program history for single-season home runs with 10 and moved into third all-time with 20 career home runs. Brandon Pimentel, who hit a solo home run during the first, is up to 12 homers on the year, tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in program history.
UTRGV closes out WAC play with a three-game series against Stephen F. Austin beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The games can be viewed online on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+.
“We got a lot of work to do the next week and a half and we’ve got to get better and have to get in there ready to go. There’s a lot of great teams in our league and we got to be really good to beat them,” Matlock said.
