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RIO GRANDE VALLEY \u2013 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, the No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament which is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the 10th week in a row, opened bracket play, presented by Payne Auto Group, with an 11-8 victory over the No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Thursday in front of a crowd of 3,215, the program’s 23rd largest crowd since moving into UTRGV Baseball Stadium in 2002 and 12th largest of the season. Support UTRGV Baseball<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Become a Fan on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n Read Full Article
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\nUTRGV extends its program record season attendance to 76,380 across 24 dates, an average of 3,183 per date.
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\nUTRGV advances to the bracket play semifinals against No. 6 Houston Christian University, which beat No. 3 Lamar 6-3 earlier in the day, on Thursday at 6 p.m. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi faces Lamar in an elimination game at 1 p.m.
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\nAll-tournament and single-session passes are on sale now and can be purchased at\u00a0UTRGVTickets.com<\/a>. Current students of the participating Southland institutions receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at\u00a0GoUTRGV.com\/ClearBag<\/a>. Fans can find a full list of game day information at RallyTheValley.com<\/a>. Gates open at 12 p.m.
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\nFans can watch all games domestically on\u00a0ESPN+<\/a>\u00a0or internationally via\u00a0Southland International<\/a>.
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\nSenior Seven Lancia led the Vaqueros (35-16) offensively by going 3-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a career-high tying three runs scored. Graduate student Vela alum Isaac Lopez<\/a> went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Junior Thomas Williams<\/a> went 2-for-3 with two walks and a grand slam for a career-high tying four RBI. It was Williams’ first-career grand slam and his ninth home run of the season. The Vaqueros now have three grand slams this season, all coming in the last eight games. Sophomore Easton Moomau<\/a> went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Graduate student PSJA alum Jacob Sanchez<\/a> went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Armani Raygoza<\/a> finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
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\nJunior Steven Oliva<\/a> (2-2) was clutch in relief, pitching a career-high 4.0 innings, striking out three while allowing just three hits and one walk for the win.
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\nThe Vaqueros trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the second. That’s when sophomore Evan Janner<\/a> hit a 2-run home run to get the Vaqueros on the board.
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\nLancia scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to bring the Vaqueros within 4-3.
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\nIn the fifth, the Vaqueros loaded the bases with two outs, setting up Williams’ grand slam on a 1-2 pitch to give the Vaqueros a 7-4 lead.
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\nThe Islanders (20-30) tied the game in the top of the sixth, as after the first three batters walked, Drake Kerr hit a 2-run single and then purposely got caught stealing to allow the third run to score.
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\nIn the bottom of the inning, though, after David Dean (2-5) retired the first two batters, Lopez drew a four-pitch walk and Raygoza reached on an infield-single. The next three batters drove-in runs, as Sanchez and Moomau hit RBI-singles and Lancia hit a 2-run single to put the Vaqueros up 11-7.
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\nThe Islanders added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Jackson Smith.
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\nThe Islanders took a 1-0 lead in the first on a 2-out error. In the second, Kerr drew a bases loaded walk and Isaac Webb hit a 2-run single to put the Islanders up 4-0.<\/p>\n
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