Top of the Order leads baseball past Abilene Christian

On By Vaseline

ABILENE – The top third of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team’s lineup had eight hits and six runs scored in a 7-4 victory over the Abilene Christian Wildcats at Crutcher Scott Field on Friday.

Stroke start, senior Quay York went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Sophomore, freshman Easton Moomau went a career-best 3-for-5 with a career-high three runs scored. Third batter, junior Sharyland alum Martin Vazquez went a career-high 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Junior Hank Warren also went 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBI.

The first three Vaqueros (22-19, 11-11 WAC) scored goals against Austin Glaze (4-4) in the first inning, as York doubled, Moomau singled and Vazquez hit an RBI single. Junior Steven Lancia followed by a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

The Wildcats (27-19, 14-8 WAC) came into the match against senior Zach Tjelmeland (5-2) in the bottom of the inning as Miller Ladusau And Benjamin Greer started with back-to-back home runs.

The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the second after a 1-out triple by Aaron Staehely.

However, in the third inning, the Vaqueros loaded the bases with one out, setting up a graduate student sacrifice fly CJ Valdez. After a walk reloaded the bases, Warren hit a 2-run single to give the Vaqueros a 5-3 lead.

In the fourth, York, Moomau and Vazquez hit 1-out singles to load the bases. Lancia followed with a sacrifice fly and then a freshman Armani Raygoza hit an RBI single to make it 7-3.

The Wildcats got one back in the seventh when Staehely advanced to third on a ball in the mud and scored when the throw to third landed in left field.

That was it against Tjelmeland, who struckout seven in 7.0 innings.

Senior Vela alum Nico Rodríguez pitched 2.0 scoreless innings for his third save.

UTRGV and Abilene Christian will play the middle game of this 3-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m. Fans can watch in their own country on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.

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