EDINBURG, Texas — The Lamar University Cardinals suffered a 5-2 loss to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros during the series finale Sunday afternoon at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

Damian Ruiz extended his hitting streak to 13 games by wasting no time in the top of the first, hitting a single to left on the first pitch.

The LU defense came through in the clutch in the bottom of the fourth when Brayden Evans fired a strike to Easton Culp to get the runner out at home, keeping the game scoreless.

Tab Tracy reached on an error by the third baseman and then Ruiz singled to put runners at first and second to start the top of the fifth.

Zak Skinner then brought in a run on a groundout to short. Zane Spinn followed up with an RBI single to shallow left to extend the lead to 2-0.

UTRGV answered back in the bottom half of the fifth with an RBI infield single to second.

Later in the fifth, Skinner prevented the game-tying run by throwing a strike to Culp to get the runner out at home on a fielder's choice.

The Vaqueros flipped the script in the bottom of the sixth by pushing across four runs on three hits, taking a 5-2 lead.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cardinals got their leadoff batter aboard in the first six straight innings.
• Ruiz finished 2 for 4 with two singles and a walk. He leads the team with 24 hits and a .471 average.
• Skinner had a single to go 1 for 4 with an RBI.
• Spinn has now reached base safely in 13-straight games as he went 1 for 4 with a single and an RBI. He has a team-high .564 on-base percentage.
• Reese Beheler had two singles and a walk to finish 2 for 2. He was also hit by pitch, reaching base four times.
• Bryce Grizzaffi tallied two singles and a walk to go 2 for 3.
• Chris Olivier went 4.2 innings allowing five hits and one earned run with one strikeout.

UP NEXT

LU travels to Houston to take on Rice at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4.