No. 10 Jags clinch series with doubleheader sweep of Rams

Rafael Gutierrez's hitting has seemingly been hotter than the surface of the sun lately.

That continued Saturday as the graduate senior from Jacksonville, Florida, blasted two home runs to help the No. 10-ranked UHV baseball team to a Red River Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of Huston-Tillotson, 9-7 and 10-0 (8 innings), at Riverside Stadium.

He's homered in each of the last three games for the Jaguars (28-7, 16-4) and now shares the team lead (5) with Hal Perez. Gutierrez went 3-for-7 at the plate with three RBIs Saturday.

"I've just been building on the momentum we have on our team," Gutierrez said. "Like I said earlier this season, we've put a lot of work in practice. When you've got that type of energy and effort we put in, it makes gamedays much easier. So, you just play off the guy next to you and feed off that energy, and good things happen."

But it was production from the bottom of the order that helped spark UHV's offensive surge with the bottom third of the order going 10-for-21 with eight RBIs between the two games.

"I'm really happy with the way we were swinging it," said head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "Early on, we didn't quite cash in on some things, but we kept pushing. From the fifth inning on, we grabbed some runs and then some. It was great to see the good ABs one after another."

Jackson Purcell, hitting seventh in Game 1, delivered the go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to cap the scoring and lift the Jaguars to the 9-7 win.

Kyle Barosh delivered the run-rule walk-off double in the eighth inning of the 10-0 win in Game 2. Jose Montanez, who hit seventh in Game 2, was 3-for-4 in that game as well.

But it was junior catcher Roberto Olguin who made the most of his eighth start this season, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, all of which came home on a three-run double in the eighth inning.

"I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders," Olguin said. "It was a rough start, for sure – I think I was batting below .100. But me and (graduate assistant Hayden Leopold) have been in the cages, really working on keeping my hands through the ball and not spinning off of stuff."

The Robstown native was also a key part in preserving the team's record seventh shutout this season, gunning down three would-be base stealers.

"You can't say enough about Robbie," Stavinoha said. "He threw three runners out and went 2-for-4. Very happy with how he performed today."

Jonathan Jones delivered another dominant performance on the mound in Game 2, earning a complete-game shutout after allowing just four hits and no walks while tying his season-high mark in strikeouts with 11.

The Manvel native was perfect through four innings after retiring the first 12 batters he faced. It's his third shutout this season and dropped his ERA to a team-leading 1.71.

"I'm pleased with my performance," Jones said. "There's always room for improvement, but today, I just went out there and gave my team a chance to put runs up on the board, and tried to give my best stuff. I want to build on that for the rest of the season."

Mason Longoria earned his NAIA-leading ninth win of the season in Game 1, allowing two runs on two hits in two innings of relief behind starter Brady Parker.

The two teams will wrap up the three-game series at 1p.m. Sunday at Riverside Stadium.