(RV)/#15 Jags sweep Southwest behind dominant performance

Julian Garcia said he knew early on he could deliver another gem of a start for the UHV baseball team.

The senior right-hander proceeded to toss a nine-inning, complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts against four hits to propel the Jaguars to a 7-0 win at Riverside Stadium on Saturday and a sweep of University of the Southwest to open Red River Athletic Conference play.

UHV has now won each of Garcia's three starts this season as the Houston native improved to 3-0 on the mound. The Jaguars improved to 12-2 overall, the program's best ever start, and 3-0 in RRAC play.

"I felt good early on, warming up," Garcia said. "I was able to have all my pitches working. I was efficient, getting ahead early. I started cruising in the middle innings and knew I had a shot. I was glad I was able to do it."

Garcia didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and the Jaguars didn't allow a Mustang (7-7, 0-3) baserunner to reach third base. UHV worked to strand five USW runners for the team's third shutout this season.

Senior catcher Hal Perez helped out his battery mate by throwing out two would-be base stealers.

"If that's not national Pitcher of the Week, somebody else must've went off through nine innings," head coach Jonathan Stavinoha said of Garcia's performance. "He was dialed in, had all his stuff working. He's a great guy. His baseball IQ is super high. He knows how to pitch to guys. He just competed every single pitch."

Garcia worked with a one-run lead for most of the game until the sixth inning.

A solo home run to right-center by Jose Montanez sparked a three-run frame in which DeeAndre Torres provided an RBI single followed by an RBI double by Jean Michael Gonzalez.

For Montanez, it was his second homer of the season as he closed the series 4-for-10 with four RBIs and two home runs. Gonzalez was 4-for-8 with an RBI and a double in two games this week. Torres extended his hitting streak to seven games with a pair of hits on Saturday. Cristian Garcia also had a pair of hits Saturday.

"Whenever I'm here, I just want to have fun," Montanez said. "Seeing the guys have fun and getting to play the game is amazing. It feels amazing. I couldn't be more proud of this team. Now let's keep it going."

The Jaguars hit the road next weekend to face Tyler College in a three-game RRAC series.