Vaqueros complete the series sweep of Redhawks with late game heroics
UTRGV baseball (21-17, 12-8) wins in walk off fashion once again to take the final game of the series against Seattle U (13-21, 7-13) 6-5 Sunday morning at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
With the score knotted at five in the ninth, UTRGV Head Coach Derek Matlock went to junior closer Ricky Gerik Jr. out of the bullpen to record three outs.
Gerik, who during the shortened 2020 season posted a 1.54 ERA in 11 appearances with two saves, had been struggling this season coming into the game with a 12.86 ERA in seven innings.
Facing the eight, nine and one hitters in the Redhawk’s order, Gerik struckout the side on 14 pitches to earn his first win of the 2021 campaign.
With a good outing during Tuesday night’s 11-4 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Chisti and against Seattle U, Matlock explained that Gerik’s slow ascend to last year’s form is more mental than mechanical.
“I think his stuff is back to where it was, “ Matlock said. “He’s a great competitor, he loves the ball in the biggest moment and he’s got some confidence too. That’s what it’s been, it’s been confidence. That’s big for him.”
Gerik’s performance set the table for the Vaqueros offense as they led off with the heart of their lineup against Redhawk junior closer Alex Jemal.
Junior DH Freddy Rojas Jr. opened the inning with a standing double on a ball that landed in the right field warning track.
With the go-ahead run in scoring position, graduate second baseman Andy Atwood layed a bunt down the third baseline to advance Rojas. Redhawk junior third baseman Julian Kodama came charging in to get the force out a first. The throw was not in the ideal spot for senior second baseman Austin Lively covering the bag.
A collision took place with the ball popping out of Lively’s glove that gave Rojas enough time to cross home plate for the decisive sixth run.
The Vaqueros’ winning streak now inflates to six as they complete their second series sweep of the season, the first coming back on March 5-7 against Northern Illinois.
After having lost eight of their last 10 prior to the streak, Atwood explained what has changed in the programs mentality in a postgame news conference via Zoom.
“Just showing up to the field before the game and being ready right when you step in through the door,” Atwood said. “We’re getting a lot closer as teammates and a couple of our best players have gone down and we’re really missing them but that’s put a chip on our shoulder.”
Now the Vaqueros will look to carry the momentum over to their next series against New Mexico State on the road starting 7 p.m. Friday.
The team has now settled into a consistent lineup that has graduate Elijah Alexander in left; graduate Coleman Grubbs in center; senior Jacob Hirsh in right and Rojas in the DH spot; Matlock is looking to roll with this veteran cast for the remaining month of the season.
“This ballclub is settling into a lineup now and we are going to ride these hot guys and let them finish this thing up and see what we can do,” Matlock said.
Third base is still a question mark as graduate Conrado Diaz is out for the season with a torn ligament in his thumb and sophomore Carson Letterman is dealing with tendonitis in his bicep.
Junior third baseman DeAndre’ Shelton started in the hot corner and went 0-3 with two strikeouts.
In the first inning Atwood hit recorded an RBI-single and in the fifth hit a ball out of the ballpark down the third base line for a solo trip around the diamond.
The Vaqueros also scored a run in the second, third and seventh inning.
Twitter: @Radio_Rubio
