Baseball Drops WAC Opener to Utah Valley

EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley baseball dropped their Western Athletic Conference opener 4-3 to Utah Valley University on Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

UTRGV starter junior Carter Johnson got off to a good start with six scoreless innings while scattering just two hits.

The offense got going in the bottom of the fourth for UTRGV (16-9, 0-1 WAC) as they got to UVU UVU (6-15, 1-0 WAC) starter Jackson Cofer. Senior Joseph Collazo led off the inning with a single and then moved to third on a double by junior Austin Siener. A fielding error on a ground ball by junior Ivan Estrella allowed Collazo to score to give UTRGV the lead.

Senior Victor Garcia Jr. added two more runs in the inning with a two-run single to left field scoring Siener and Estrella pushing UTRGV’s lead to 3-0.

UVU got two Johnson in the top of the seventh inning as the scrapped together a pair of runs. Trevor Howell led off with a single and then moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning, Jake Berry hit an RBI single to left that scored Howell. After moving to second on the throw to the plate, Berry came in to score on an RBI single by Callahan Moltzan cutting into the UTRGV lead 3-2.

In the top of the eighth, UVU got Kade Paulson aboard to start the inning and then after an infield single by Trevor Peterson, Howell hit an RBI single scoring Paulson and knocking Johnson out of the ball game. UVU added another run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Zac Willis to take the 4-3 lead.

That would be all the scoring for UTRGV, as Cofer didn’t give up another hit and the UVU bullpen held UTRGV scoreless. Logan Hold earned the win after pitching an inning and a third while Patrick Wolfe picked up his fifth save of the season.

Johnson took the loss after pitching seven and a third innings while allowing four runs, three earned and striking out 10 batters.

UTRGV and Utah Valley will continue their three-game series Saturday at 6 p.m. in a game that will be televised throughout Texas on Spectrum Sports Channel 323. Gates open at 5 p.m.