CBU Drops Sunday Contest, Still Wins Series Against UTRGV

Sunday, May 12

Riverside, Calif.

12:00 PM

California Baptist University

32-20, 16-11

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

24-22, 13-14

UT Rio Grande Valley

California Baptist

Photo by: Elijah Hickman

CBU Drops Sunday Contest, Still Wins Series Against UTRGV

5/12/2024 4:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Mariah Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Digital Media

RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist baseball program fell on Sunday afternoon to UTRGV in the series finale but came away with a 2-1 series win to solidify a third-place spot in the Western Athletic Conference rankings heading into the final weekend of the regular season. CBU falls to 32-20 on the season and is now 16-11 in WAC play, tied with Abilene Christian.

The Vaqueros came out swinging and took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning that was matched in the third by the Lancers after Mitchel Simon knocked a sacrifice fly to score Garret Ostrander. Julian Alvarez gave CBU the lead with an RBI double in the fourth, but a two-run fifth inning handed UTRGV the lead once again that ultimately wouldn't be relinquished. After the Vaqueros extended their lead to 4-2 in the seventh, CBU responded with a lone run generated by Ostrander to put the Lancers within one of the away team.

Trouble came for the Lancers in the eighth inning after UTRGV managed to load the bases with no outs on the board. Ryan Hetzler entered the inning and managed to snag an out after forcing a fly ball to center field but allowed a pair of runs after hitting and walking two Vaqueros. A second-out sacrifice fly would score another, giving UTRGV their largest lead of the game at 7-3.

LIL GUP, BIG SWING!
Garret Ostrander gets the job done with double for a pair of runs in the eighth!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/UUBC0Fczgh
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 12, 2024

Ostrander picked up his second and third RBI in the bottom of the eighth after ripping a two-out double, but the momentum was not carried after the following Lancer grounded out to end the inning. The Vaqueros sealed the final line with a solo home run and avoided being swept during their first trip to Totman Stadium.

CBU will now turn to a Monday road match-up against Long Beach in the team's final non-conference game of the season before heading to Utah Tech for the final weekend of WAC play in Utah. The Lancer's result against Utah Tech will determine the final seeding for the conference tournament that begins on May 21st in Mesa, Arizona.