The UTRGV baseball team shutout Sacramento State 10-0 in eight innings in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament elimination game Saturday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Az. to advance the the final round of the WAC tourney.
The Vaqueros (32-25) used an all-around performance from their offense, defense and starting pitcher Deryk Serbantez to pick up their second straight win by a 10-run rule.
“Those guys in the middle are special players. It was good to see us put together a full game on the mound, on offense and defense, that was fun to watch,” UTRGV baseball head coach Derek Matlock said.
The Vaqueros move on to Game 1 of the WAC Tournament Championship for an 8 p.m. matchup tonight against No. 1 Grand Canyon. The Vaqueros, who already have one loss in the double-elimination tournament, must win two straight games against Grand Canyon to win the title. Meanwhile, the unbeaten GCU Lopes need just one win against UTRGV to claim the WAC tourney championship. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Game 2 between UTRGV and Grand Canyon, if necessary, will be played at 2 p.m. Sunday.
UTRGV entered this year’s WAC tournament with no tourney wins in program history. The Vaqueros now have three WAC tourney wins and are set to play for a berth to the NCAA Regionals.
“We’re going to take it one inning and one pitch at a time. We have a long grind ahead of us,” Matlock said. “… I’m pretty proud, but we got to keep fighting.”
In just his fourth start of the season, Serbantez (3-1) was dominant, striking out a career-high tying six in a career-high 6.0 scoreless innings while scattering four hits and three walks.
Serbantez was bolstered by a parade of great defensive plays to keep the Hornets off the board.
With a runner at first and nobody out during the first, Trevor Doyle hit a hot shot to third that UTRGV sophomore Diego Ramirez, playing on the lip of the infield grass, was able to snag by diving to his right. Ramirez then got to his feet and threw to first for the out.
The next batted ball of the game went into right-center field. Centerfielder Coleman Grubbs came racing in and slid to make the catch.
The Hornets (35-22) loaded the bases with two outs during the second. Nick Iwasa hit a ground ball up the middle, but shortstop Christian Sepulveda ranged far to his left, grabbing the ball behind the second base bag before making a strong throw to first to end the threat.
During the fifth, the Hornets put a runner at first with nobody out. Iwasa hit another groundball up the middle. Sepulveda dove to his left to snare the ball. As his chest hit the ground, Sepulveda flipped the ball directly from his glove into the glove of graduate student Andy Atwood covering the second base bag to get the out.
During the sixth, the Hornets had two on with two out when Martin Vincelli-Simard hit a liner down the third base line that Ramirez caught on the backhand while falling to his knees.
Senior Chase Bridges, who pitched two scoreless innings of relief, was also the recipient of some strong defense.
The Vaqueros broke the scoreless tie against Travis Adams (6-3) during the third on a two-out RBI single by Grubbs.
During the fourth, the Vaqueros put runners on the corners with one out to set up an RBI bunt single by senior Elijah Alexander and an RBI double by De La Cruz that made the score 3-0.
The Vaqueros scored five runs during the seventh. With runners on the corners and one out, Grubbs came up with an RBI bunt single. After a walk loaded the bases, designated hitter Joseph Impeduglia hit a two-run single. One out later, Alexander hit a two-run single to put the Vaqueros up 8-0.
The Vaqueros ended the game during the eighth, as with two on and one out, Grubbs reached on a fielder’s choice and an error allowed junior Edinburg Vela alum RJ Ochoa to score. Atwood followed with a walk-off RBI single.
Atwood finished 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Sepulveda went 3-for-4 with a career-high tying three runs scored. Alexander finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Grubbs went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. Impeduglia finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored. Ochoa went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
