Bears can't find way past UTRGV in both games of doubleheader

Friday, May 14

Edinburg, TX

2 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

11-30, 7-18

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

26-21, 17-12

Northern Colorado

UT Rio Grande Valley

5/14/2021 7:20:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

EDINBURG, Texas – Northern Colorado couldn't find its groove on day one of the series against UT Rio Grande Valley. The Vaqueros kept the pressure on all afternoon long and combined with solid pitching, walked away with two wins (5-0, 10-0).

GAME 1

Despite surrendering an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning, starting pitcher Dylan Bowers settled into the game quite nicely.

Through the first four innings, Bowers struck out four while giving up just the one run.

BOT 3 | That's a K for @yahboydylan !!

UNC - 0
UTRGV - 1#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/LVeCxprLnR
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) May 14, 2021

The Vaqueros opened things up in the bottom of the fifth, though, plating four runs and capitalizing on a few Bear mistakes. All of a sudden, UTRGV owned a five-run lead with just two innings to play.

Relief pitchers Quentin Parr and Sam Colehower did their part in keeping the Vaqueros at bay. Both pitched one full scoreless inning as Parr struck out two and Colehower struck out one.

They even got some help from Matt Burkart in right field, who rifled down a UTRGV runner trying to widen the gap.

BOT 6 | OH MY GOODNESS @matt__burkart !! Just an absolute laser from right field for the double play!

UNC - 0
UTRGV - 5#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/IBulET3WIT
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) May 14, 2021

In the end, UT Rio Grande Valley held UNC to just one hit from Burkart en route to a 5-0 victory.

GAME 2

Once again UTRGV jumped out to the early lead with one run in the first inning.

This time, the Vaqueros kept up the pressure, grabbing four runs in the third and two more in the fifth frame.

While Matt Burkart continued to make gold-glove-level plays in right field, he couldn't stop UTRGV from stretching its lead to seven runs.

BOT 4 | GIVE THAT MAN A GOLD GLOVE! @matt__burkart

UNC - 0
UTRGV - 5#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/EYGI0dfMbI
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) May 15, 2021

Sensing a bit of momentum, UT Rio Grande Valley kept the foot on the gas, scoring two more runs in the sixth.

With Sam Leach and Garrett Fisher representing the only Bears to reach base safely, the home side picked up the deciding run in the bottom of the seventh to grab its second win of the day, 10-0.

Game Notes

Both Quentin Parr and Sam Colehower pitched one full inning of scoreless relief
Matt Burkart made a pair of stellar plays in right field and recorded the Bears' only hit in game one.
Garrett Fisher recorded his 12^th walk of the season.
Sam Leach tallied his team-leading 42^nd hit of the year

What's Ahead
The third game of the series between the Bears and Vaqueros is set for Saturday, May 15. First pitch has been pushed back to 3 p.m. MT.

To stay up to date on all things UNC baseball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter.