STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Interstat) — Easton Moomau homered and drove in a run, Garza Gongo delivered a two-run double and Texas-Rio Grande Valley used a strong bullpen performance to defeat Tarleton State 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Tarleton Baseball Complex.

The Vaqueros improved to 25-27 overall, while the Texans dropped to 33-17. UTRGV had five hits and Tarleton State had seven, but the visitors’ pitching staff combined to allow only two runs despite giving up a triple and multiple walks.

Moomau’s solo homer to center field in the top of the second inning opened the scoring and gave the Vaqueros a 1-0 lead. The score remained there until the fourth, when Tarleton State scratched across a run on a sacrifice fly by Cade McCloud that scored S. McCloud, who had walked, stolen second and advanced on a wild pitch.

The most critical sequence came in the top of the sixth inning. With the game tied 1-1, Moomau led off with a single to right center. After a groundout moved him to second, Jack Stracener walked. Both runners moved up on a passed ball, and then Ruben Gonzalez walked to load the bases. Garza Gongo followed with a double to left center, clearing the bases and giving the Vaqueros a 4-1 lead.

Tarleton State answered in the bottom of the seventh. R. Smeenk singled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a bases-loaded walk to R. Heinrich that made it 4-2. However, UTRGV reliever Nick Nolan induced a line-drive double play to shortstop to end the threat, and Augie Grohman pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth innings to seal the victory.

UTRGV used six pitchers in the game. Victor Loa started and threw two hitless innings with three strikeouts. Mason Engel followed with three innings, allowing one earned run on no hits with one strikeout. Ruben Gonzalez gave up one run in 1 1/3 innings, and Nolan recorded two outs. Grohman struck out two in two perfect innings to earn the save.

For Tarleton State, Cort Lowry started and allowed one run on one hit over 3 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. Anthony Treto struck out three in 1 1/3 innings, and Corbin Walter and Tai Phetluangsy each threw a scoreless frame. However, the Texans could not overcome UTRGV’s timely hitting and relief depth.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Vaqueros, who had dropped the first two games of the series to Tarleton State. The series loss followed a stretch in which UTRGV had won four of its previous five games. The Texans, meanwhile, saw their three-game winning streak come to an end but remained firmly above .500 on the season.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tarleton State 7, Texas-Rio Grande Valley 6, and Interstat’s ELO system gave Tarleton State a 50.40 percent probability to win.