The UTRGV baseball team lost 11 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who are receiving votes in the latest USA Today Coaches and Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, on Tuesday at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock. Lost by 6.
Junior Sharyland High School graduate Martin Vazquez hit his 15th home run of the season, ranking him fourth in single-season program history. Vazquez trails only Jesse Gutierrez (2000, 21 years old), Hall of Famer Mitchell Moran (1983, 20 years old) and Brandon Pimentel (2023, 19 years old). Vasquez had a career-high-tying four RBIs and went 3-for-5 with a career-high tying RBI, three runs short of the cycle.
Graduate student CJ Valdez went 3-for-5 with a home run. Freshman Easton Moomaw went 2-for-3 with a career-high-tying double, a career-high-tying two walks, and a career-high three runs scored.
The first three batters for the Vasqueros (21-19) had hits in the first inning, with senior Cade York hitting a double, Moomaw a single and Vasquez hitting an RBI. Junior Stephen Lancia then grounded out to a double play to bring Moomaw home, making the score 2-0.
The Red Raiders (30-17) got one back in the bottom of the first inning with a home run by Gavin Kash and tied it in the second with a home run by Davis Rivers.
The Vaqueros regained the lead in the third inning with back-to-back doubles by Moomaw and Vasquez to make the score 3-2.
In the bottom of the third inning, Kash hit another home run to tie the score, and in the top of the fourth, Valdez hit a go-ahead home run to make the score 4-3.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Cade McGee hit a two-run home run to give the Red Raiders a 5-4 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Moumaw led off with a walk and Vazquez hit the go-ahead home run to give the Vaqueros a 6-5 lead.
The Red Raiders tied the game on Kevin Buzzell's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
In the sixth inning, Gage Harrelson hit an RBI double with one out against junior Tyler Davis (0-1). Then, after a walk, an error by Kash led to a score, and Damian Bravo brought up a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-6 Red Raiders.
The Red Raiders had the bases loaded with no outs in the 7th inning. A wild pitch brought Rivers home, making the score 10-6.
The Red Raiders had two outs and the bases loaded in the 8th inning, and McGee's walk made the score 11-6.
Josh Saunders (4-1), who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, was the winner.
UTRGV's next game is the Western Athletic Conference series on the road against Abilene Christian, starting Friday in Abilene at 6 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+ and internationally on WAC International.
