HVU handles Gold Rush to open RRAC series, 17-2

Houston-Victoria scored 15 runs in the final three innings Friday to pull away for a 17-2 victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the opener of a three-game Red River Athletic Conference baseball series at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans.

The Gold Rush (9-6 overall, 3-4 RRAC) and Jaguars (8-13, 2-2) will play a noon CST Saturday doubleheader.

Raul Lopez had four RBIs and Hal Perez three for UHV. Haldamel Perez had four hits, including two doubles and a home run. Lopez hit a three-run homer during an eight-run seventh inning, and Perez followed with a bases-empty homer two batters later.

Winning pitcher Mason Longoria limited the Gold Rush to four singles and four walks in six innings.

D’Aires Davis singled and walked twice for XULA, and he scored the first Gold Rush run in the fifth on a Courtland Posey fielder’s choice.

scoring a season high in runs, UHV beat XULA starter Joseph Semien, a two-time RRAC Pitcher of the Week this season.