Cedar Valley Walks Off No. 6 Richland for 30th Win

LANCASTER, Texas -- Jacob Cueva's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Dallas College Cedar Valley to a 10-9 victory over sixth-ranked Dallas College Richland Wednesday to open a three-game series.

The win improved the Suns to 30-24 overall, 10-18 in the Dallas Athletic Conference with two games remaining in the regular season Friday and Saturday at Richland. The Thunderducks fell to 35-18, 20-8.

It was Cedar Valley's third win over a ranked opponent in the last three weeks. 

Cueva went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Hayden Carpenter was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI as the Suns matched the Thunderducks with 12 hits.

Cedar Valley took a 5-0 lead into the fourth, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third. Richland put four of their own on the board in the fifth to pull within a run. The Thunderducks then took the lead in their next set of swings, scoring five runs in the sixth to build a four-run cushion.

But the Suns kept chipping away. They scored once in the sixth, added two more in the seventh and added two in the ninth to pull off the comeback win. All the while, closer Ethan Thompson-Nguyen locked down his first victory with three shutdown innings after the Thunderducks had pulled in front.

Thompson-Nguyen gave up just three hits, and struck out four in his three innings of shutout relief.

Richland's Jouseph Gelpi, Trey Smith, Teagan Peeples, Eimir Perez and Sean Amarante each had two hits, and Kelton Phillips doubled and drove in three runs. Peeples had two RBI, while Nick Hockemeyer, Trace Chamblee and Smith each had one.

Homar Barrera-Lopez was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jordan Anguiano went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base, and Cesar Mora had a pinch-hit double to drive in a run.

Saturday's season finale will air on the Thunderducks Network.