The UTRGV baseball team scored 10 runs in the third inning to beat the Utah Tech Trailblazers 14-5 on Friday at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George, Utah.
Friday’s victory clinches the three-game series for UTRGV after the Vaqueros defeated Utah Tech 13-11 in Game 1 on Thursday.
Senior Kade York led the Vaqueros (14-11, 4-4 WAC) by going 4-for-6 with a grand slam, a double, a walk, a career-high five RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base Friday. The leadoff hitter, York is now 8-for-10 with three walks and seven runs scored in the series.
After driving in 10 runs without a home run over his first 16 games, freshman Armani Raygoza homered for the second-straight game, a 3-run shot, giving him seven RBI in the series. Raygoza finished 3-for-5, adding a double and a walk.
Senior Adrian Torres went 3-for-6 with a career-high tying two doubles, three RBI, and a run scored. Junior Sharyland High alumnus Martin Vazquez went a career-high tying 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored. Graduate student CJ Valdez went 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. Junior Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez finished 2-for-5 with a walk and a run scored.
The Vaqueros trailed 3-0 entering the third. Valdez drew a leadoff walk from Ky Decker (1-3) and then junior Erick Martinez singled. York followed with an RBI-double, Torres drove-in a run with a groundout, and Vazquez hit an RBI-single to tie the game. After junior Steven Lancia walked, Raygoza launched a 3-run home run to give the Vaqueros the lead. One out later, Lopez and Valdez singled and then Martinez walked to set up York’s first-career grand slam to make the score 10-3.
The Vaqueros scored a run in the fourth when Torres was plunked with the bases loaded to force-in a run.
In the sixth, the Vaqueros put runners at second and third with one out. Vazquez lined out to short, but the subsequent throw to second went into centerfield, allowing York to score. Lancia followed with an RBI-double to put the Vaqueros up 13-5.
Torres added a two-out RBI-double in the ninth to put the Vaqueros up 14-5.
That made a winner of graduate student Isiah Campa (1-0), who pitched 4.2 innings of relief, striking out three while allowing one run on three hits and three walks.
The Trailblazers (7-19, 5-6 WAC) scored three runs in the first as Hunter Katschke homered, Petey Soto Jr. hit a 2-out, RBI-single, and then Hank Dodson scored when Soto took off for second and got caught in a long run down.
The Trailblazers pulled within 10-4 on a two-out RBI-double by Brennen Study in the third and 11-5 on a Garrett Cutting RBI-double in the fourth.
UTRGV and Utah Tech close out their three-game series at 1 p.m. Saturday. Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.
