The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team hit a program record-tying six home runs to beat the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 11-3 on Saturday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,915 humans and 276 dogs.
UTRGV extends its new single-season program attendance record to 50,310 humans.
Including all sports, UTRGV Athletics has now welcomed about 104,000 fans to home events this season.
In baseball, UTRGV is averaging 2,096 fans across 24 home dates. If that average holds, UTRGV will break the current program record of 1,920 fans per date set across 20 dates in 1972.
UTRGV has four home games remaining with tickets on sale at GoUTRGV.com/Tickets.
Saturday’s attendance is the eighth largest for UTRGV since moving into UTRGV Baseball Stadium in 2002. Five of the top eight attendance marks for UTRGV at UTRGV Baseball Stadium have been achieved this season along with the 6,044 against UT Arlington on April 6 (second), the 5,374 against Utah Valley on April 13 (third), the 4,313 against Grand Canyon on March 23 (fourth), and the 3,962 against Stephen F. Austin on April 28 (seventh).
This is the sixth time the Vaqueros (20-18, 9-11 WAC) have ever hit six home runs in a game, the fourth year in a row, the second time against Stephen F. Austin, and the first time-ever at UTRGV Baseball Stadium after previously doing so at Stephen F. Austin (May 18, 2023), at UTSA (May 3, 2022), and at New Mexico State (May 2, 2021), as well as at home at Jody Ramsey Memorial Stadium against Western Illinois (March 2000) and William Penn (March 1991).
Junior Sharyland High alumnus Martin Vazquez hit his 14th home run of the season, tied for the fourth-highest total in program, while reaching base three times, driving in two runs, and scoring twice. Vazquez is even with Dale Brown (1981) and Robert Johnson (1980) while trailing only Jesse Gutierrez (21, 2000), Hall of Famer Mitchell Moran (20, 1983), and Brandon Pimentel (19, 2023). Vazquez’s home run put the Vaqueros up 5-1 in the third.
Freshman Armani Raygoza posted his first-career multi-home run game, hitting a pair of 2-run home runs against Reid Boyett (0-9) for a career-high tying four RBI. His first home run capped a 3-run first while his second shot capped a 5-run fourth.
Freshman Evan Janner recorded his first collegiate hit, an inside the park home run to put the Vaqueros up 11-2 in the fifth. He hit a liner to right that got past a diving Tyree Carr and rolled to the wall. Janner never stopped running and did a leaping full-frontal dive to avoid the tag at the plate.
Senior Kade York and junior Hank Warren also hit solo shots while junior Steven Lancia went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored.
The home runs accounted for eight of the Vaqueros’ runs, with Vazquez adding an RBI-groundout in the first and Lancia hitting a 2-run double in the fourth.
Junior Francisco Hernandez (4-3) made the runs stand up, racking up a career-high nine strikeouts in a career high-tying 7.0 innings while allowing two runs on six hits and one walk.
The Lumberjacks (7-36, 3-20 WAC) scored in the second on a Dylan Bourgeois RBI-single, the fifth on a Brock Knoerr RBI-single, and the eighth on a Carr home run.
UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin complete the series at noon Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg. Fans can take advantage of the Family Fun Day: 4 for $44 promotion includes four general admission tickets, four drinks, and four hot dogs for $44.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. Gates open at 11 a.m.
Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.
