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UTRGV REPORTS
The UTRGV baseball team scored four runs during the ninth to come from behind and beat the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 5-2 to close out the regular season on Saturday at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches.
The ‘Jacks (15-37, 8-22 WAC) carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth. Center fielder Brett Cain drew a leadoff walk against Brooks Caple (0-4). One out later, outfielder Jacob Hirsh walked. Chris Mondesi followed with an RBI single to tie the game and then Raul Ortega hit a go-ahead RBI single. After a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners with two outs, the Vaqueros took advantage of three wild pitches to score Mondesi and Ortega to make the score 5-2.
Ortega finished 2-for-3.
That made a winner of Ricky Gerik Jr. (5-3), who pitched a scoreless eighth.
Sophomore Zach Tjelmeland struck out the side during a perfect ninth for his second save. Tjelmeland has now struck out a season-high tying three in three-straight outings.
The Vaqueros (32-23, 17-13 WAC) scored their first run during the seventh as with one out, Hirsh singled to left. He then drew a pickoff throw that sailed away, allowing Hirsh to go all the way to third. Mondesi followed with an RBI-groundout to bring the Vaqueros within 2-1.
That was it against Joe Todd, who pitched 7.0 innings allowing four hits without a walk while striking out two.
Freshman Randy Garza didn’t allow a hit over the first 3.0 innings. In the fourth, though, the ‘Jacks started with a walk and two singles, the second of which, by Peyton Parker, brought home Cameron Crawford for the game’s first run.
That led to the ‘Jacks having runners on the corners. Crawford took off for second, and when the throw went through, Clayton Loranger stole home to make the score 2-0.
UTRGV opens the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the Southwest Division #3 seed and will face West Division #2 seed Sacramento State in the opening round at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Hohokam Stadium, the spring training home of the Oakland A’s, in Mesa, Ariz. Fans can watch in the United States on ESPN+ or internationally at WACSports.com/Watch.
