RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior Sharyland alum Kike Cienfuegos struck out a career-high seven in a career-high tying 5.0 scoreless innings of relief to lead The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team to a 5-3 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers on Tuesday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in front of a crowd of 2,774.
 
Cienfuegos (2-0) took over with the Vaqueros (4-8) down 3-1 in the fifth and worked around four hits and a walk to give the offense a chance to come back.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Vaqueros tied the game as with the bases and one out, junior Easton Moomau walked to force-in a run and junior Armani Raygoza scored on a wild pitch.
 
That was it until the eighth, when senior Thomas Williams hit a leadoff single off Jace Maynard (0-1). One out later, graduate student PSJA alum Diego Villescas singled to center. The throw to third sailed wide, allowing Williams to score and Villescas to advance to third. Senior Hank Warren followed with a two-out RBI-double to put the Vaqueros up 5-3.
 
Williams finished 2-for-4.
 
The Tigers (5-4) scratched across an unearned run in the first on a two-out RBI-single by Byron Robinson.
 
The Vaqueros tied the game in the bottom of the inning as junior Rocco Garza Gongora sent the first pitch of the inning over the left field wall.
 
Shaun Williams answered with a home run to center in the third to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
 
Jonathan Trejo homered to start the fourth, putting the Tigers up 3-1.
 

UTRGV and Texas Southern complete the series on Western Wednesday, presented by F&P Brands, at 6:30 p.m. The first 50 fans to visit the Schlotzsky’s table will receive free Schlotzsky’s for a year. Fans will be treated to Western music throughout the game.
 
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with a digital ticket that can be acquired at GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets while also showing their student ID. Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy, by visiting RallyTheValley.com.
 
Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via Southland International.

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