EDINBURG, Texas — Junior Matt Masciangelo finished with a team-high three hits and sophomore Jacob Cortez added two more, but a pair of big innings helped host UTRGV even up its Western Athletic Conference series with Sacramento State with a 9-2 win in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday evening in Edinburg, Texas.
The Hornets fell to 26-29 overall and 14-15 in the WAC on the season, while the Vaqueros improved to 26-23 overall and 14-15 in league play. The two teams, tied for the No. 7 seed in next week's conference tournament, will decide the series and the final seeding for the league's postseason event with the rubber game on Saturday (May 18) at 4:30 p.m. PT.
Masciangelo recorded his 12th multi-hit game of the season (tied for fourth on the team) and his fifth three-hit performance of the year, while Cortez notched his eighth game with two-or-more hits. With singles in the third inning, both Gunner Gouldsmith and JP Smith extended their respective hitting streaks to nine straight games.
UTRGV jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first inning, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five times for the 5-0 lead. After the back-to-back singles by Gouldsmith and Smith to lead-off the third, Tyler White broke up the shutout with a sacrifice fly to right field with runners on the corners, easily scoring Gouldsmith to make it 5-1.
The Vaqueros then pulled away in the home half of the third, tacking on three more runs to go up 8-1 and they never looked back. UTRGV added a single run in the fifth and Masciangelo drove home Myles Walton with an RBI single in the eighth to complete the scoring.
Jasper Nelson (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing three earned on three hits and striking out one. Noah Lucchesi struck out a team-high four batters over 2.2 innings of work, while freshman Andrew Overland allowed a run on four hits and struck out three in his two innings of relief. Freshman Bryce Stockton closed out the night with a strong final three shutout frames, not allowing a hit and facing just one over the minimum while striking out three.
EJ Miramontes (1-0) earned the win, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out eight over seven innings.
