Edinburg--- The Lancers finished their final game against the UTRGV Vaqueros in Texas with a solid 8-3 win. California Baptist has secured its first Western Athletic Conference series win, improving to 8-7 on the season.
After a scoreless first inning, the Lancers struck first with two runs in the second inning. A pair of singles from
CJ Masciel and
Julian Alvarez drove in the runs to take an early lead. In the third inning,
Jake Skipworth opened with a single to center field and advanced to second on a
Josiah Chavez single.
Garret Ostrander earned the RBI after sending Skipworth home with a hit to center field. He then scored himself to make it 4-0 after another single from
Connor McGuire.
The Navy and Gold put up another run in the fourth after Alvarez made it home off a wild pitch and a throwing error from the Vaqueros. Starting on the mound for the Lancers was
Seth Mattox, who pitched well. Mattox put up five strikeouts during his four innings of action and helped California Baptist get out of a scoring opportunity for UTRGV in the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, the Lancers capitalized on the Vaquero's throwing error after Ostrander bunted and Skipworth safely made it home. McGuire stepped up to the plate and delivered a clutch triple that scored two more runs for CBU, putting them ahead by eight runs. UTRGV attempted to gain momentum in the bottom of the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly, but Jake Wilson closed out the inning to keep the Lancers ahead by seven.
Alvarez collected three hits, two stolen bases, and an RBI during his five at-bats for CBU, while McGuire ended the afternoon with two hits and three RBI for the Lancers.
UTRGV began chipping into California Baptist's lead in the bottom of the seventh with two runs off a pair of errors. A throw home from Alvarez in center field ended the inning and shut down the Vaquero's comeback attempt, solidifying the 8-3 win.
California Baptist returns to Totman Stadium to take on the Long Beach Dirtbags in a mid-week tilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
