EDINBURG, Texas (Interstat) — Sergio Lopez delivered a dominant performance on the mound and Armani Raygoza powered the offense with two home runs as the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros shut out the New Orleans Privateers 10-0 in a Southland Conference baseball game Friday night at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

The game, which lifted both teams to 6-8 overall, was controlled from the start by Lopez. The Vaquero right-hander struck out 13 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three singles and no walks. He faced only three batters over the minimum, thoroughly stifling a Privateers lineup that had averaged over seven runs per game in its last five contests.

Lopez’s mastery set the tone, but the most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the third inning, breaking open what had been a tight pitchers’ duel. After Lopez had retired the first nine Privateers he faced, his counterpart, New Orleans starter William Andrade, had kept the Vaqueros off the board until the second. In the third, Rocco Garza Gongora singled with one out. Raygoza then followed by crushing a two-run homer to deep center field, his fifth of the season, giving Texas-Rio Grande Valley a 3-0 lead and all the offense Lopez would ultimately need.

That swing seemed to unravel Andrade and the Privateers. The Vaqueros added two unearned runs in the fourth on a pair of wild pitches, capitalizing on a New Orleans error. Andrade was pulled in the fifth after allowing a run-scoring single to Raygoza, finishing with four earned runs allowed over 4 1/3 innings despite not surrendering a hit.

The Vaqueros continued to build their lead against the New Orleans bullpen. Gongora hit a solo home run, his second of the year, in the sixth inning to make it 7-0. In the seventh, Chayton Fischer and Austin Stracener each delivered RBI singles to extend the advantage to 9-0. Raygoza capped his standout night with a solo shot to right field in the eighth inning, his sixth homer of the season, for the final margin. He finished 4 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

New Orleans, which was projected by Interstat’s game simulator to win 6-3, never threatened. The Privateers managed just three singles, with Issac Dominguez, Collin Biddick and Jackson Evan each collecting one. Lopez retired 16 consecutive batters at one point before allowing Evan’s single in the eighth. Robert Bonilla recorded the final out of the eighth inning in relief of Lopez to preserve the shutout.

The victory marked a strong rebound for Lopez, who was tagged for five runs in a loss to Lamar in his previous start. For the Privateers, the loss halted momentum from an 11-6 win over Jackson State earlier in the week.

The teams continue their three-game conference series Saturday and Sunday in Edinburg.