In a back-and-forth game, UTRGV baseball (20-17, 11-8) walk it off in the tenth inning for a 5-4 win against Seattle U (13-20, 7-12) Saturday evening at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
With runners on second and third, Seattle U Head Coach Donny Harrel intentionally walked graduate shortstop Christian Sepulveda, who had previously grounded out into a 6-4-3 double play in the seventh, to load the bases in the 10th inning.
Senior right fiddler Jacob Hirsh, a pinch hitter in the eight for freshman right fielder Spencer Serven, hit a ball down the first base line. It was picked up by freshman first baseman Derek Gellos who’s throw to the plate was off the mark as Vaquero second baseman Andy Atwood crossed home plate uncontested.
In a postgame news conference via Zoom, UTRGV Head Coach Derek Matlock explained what the victory means as the program is now on a five-game winning streak after going 2-8 their previous 10 outings.
“A win is a win,” Matlock said. “When you look for them … man we’ve lost a lot of them in the first part of this year so anytime we win we got to be positive and happy.”
When asked, Matlock noted that the team’s recent winning streak, besides a full week of rest, is due to the upperclassmen playing at a high level.
“It’s the old guys,” he said. “[graduate center fielder Coleman] Grubbs, [graduate left fielder Elijah] Alexander, Atwood… it’s those old guys. It’s the old guys playing like they’re supposed to play, that’s how you win championships, when old guys play to their abilities.”
Prior to the late game heroics, both teams traded punches that began in the opening frame as Vaquero sophomore starter J.C. Ariza threw a wild pitch that allowed Redhawk center fielder Gavin Rork to score from third for an early 1-0 advantage.
The Redhawks would follow it up with a RBI-single in the second inning as sophomore right fielder Kai Alberghini poked the ball into center field to lead 2-0.
The Vaqueros, after scoring 13 runs earlier in the day, responded in the bottom half of the inning with a Serven home run to left field, his third of the season, to trail by one.
In the third inning with runners on second and first, junior first baseman Angel De La Cruz would knock in a run with a single to center field to even the game at two.
Both teams would score in the fourth with a Rork RBI-double and a junior third baseman DeAndre’ Shelton RBI-double down the third baseline.
It wasn’t till the eighth inning when the Redhawks were able to break the deadlock on a sophomore PH Shane Jamison RBI-single.
De La Cruz would even the score with a 0-1 count home run over the left field wall, for his fourth bomb of the season.
Senior closer Chase Bridges picked up his fifth win of the year, throwing 2.2 innings allowing one hit against 12 batters.
The Vaqueros will now look to complete the series sweep against Redhawks 10 a.m. Sunday with sophomore Colten Davis on the mound.
Matlock explained graduate pitcher Max Balderrama Jr. will not start this weekend as the team awaits test results for elbow soreness as the program looks to be cautious with their 3-1, 3.56 ERA starter.
“He’s feeling better, but we don’t have the MRI results,” Matlock said. “So, we are not going to take a shot with him going out there and competing and do something and hurt it.”
Twitter: @Radio_Rubio
