Gutierrez’s grand slam lifts Jags past Eagles in front of record crowd

Rafael Gutierrez had never played in front of a crowd as big as Riverside Stadium saw on Friday.

A record crowd of 2,342 fans were on hand as part of Little League Appreciation Night presented by Atzenhoffer as Gutierrez lived out a dream many baseball players have from a young age.

The graduate senior blasted a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning to help lift the No. 10-ranked Jaguars to a 9-4 win in a Red River Athletic Conference series-opener with Texas A&M-Texarkana.

"To see not just the little leaguers, but the whole city of Victoria come out here to support us in such a big conference game meant the world to us," Gutierrez said. "So it was good to it in front of all those fans. It was the most fun game I've been a part of."

It was the first home run of the season for the Jacksonville, Florida, native.

His 3-for-4 showing on Friday was also an emphatic confidence boost for Gutierrez, who had gone without a hit for two weeks. Over his last two games, he's 5-for-8 with five RBIs and three runs scored.

"He's been swinging it really well lately and overcame a little bit of a slump there early in the season," said head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "Really, it was the separation to take us the whole way home. Can't say enough about how he's been grinding and it paid off with that AB."

The Jaguars (23-3, 12-1) had to rally twice, first in the first inning and once again in the seventh – both after home runs by the Eagles (19-7, 8-2).

Both Juan Perez and Jackson Purcell had bases-loaded walks in the second and seventh innings to tie the game with Purcell's walk sparking the six-run seventh.

"We could've beat ourselves up because we had so many balls we hit hard right at people," Stavinoha said. "We finally got over that hump. Hats off to our guys for being strong, having good ABs over and over, and finally pushing through."

Mason Longoria threw three relief innings to earn his seventh win of the year.

He followed fellow Victoria native Brady Parker, who struck out 11 batters.

Free Ticket Weekend presented by Atzenhoffer continues on Saturday with a 12 p.m. doubleheader.