The UTRGV Vaqueros were eliminated from the Southland Conference tournament on Friday afternoon, ending the team’s season.

The loss came at the hands of the Lamar Cardinals, the hosts of the Vaqueros side of Bracket Play. The Cardinals and Vaqueros both lost on Thursday, setting up Friday’s elimination game between the two teams that came into the tournament as the #2 and #3 seeds in the conference.

After a sacrifice fly from Lamar’s Brayden Evans in the bottom of the second inning to begin the afternoon, UTRGV tied the game at one in the third thanks to a Thomas Williams RBI single.

Lamar took the lead back in the 6th. With runners on the corners, a grounder to short brought in the go-ahead run as the Vaqueros throw home was just off-line and the tag didn’t come down in time to get the runner.

An RBI single from Beau Durbin in the seventh inning extended the lead for Lamar. UTRGV pulled back within a run in the eighth after an RBI groundout from Andrew Taylor.

The Vaqueros had a chance in the ninth, with the winning run coming to the plate twice. First, SLC Player of the Year Armani Raygoza flew out to right and Julius Ramirez grounded into a double play to end it in a 3-2 loss for the Vaqueros.

UTRGV finishes the season with a 26-29 record.