The UTRGV Vaqueros took down the Lamar Cardinals 13-3 on Friday night in the conference opener.

Lamar came into the season ranked as the #1 team in the Southland Conference preseason poll and boasted a 9-1 record so far on the year entering Friday night.

The Cardinals looked strong after bursting out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but UTRGV wasted no time mounting the comeback.

A 6-run bottom of the first inning flipped the script as the Vaqueros immediately took control of the game following a shaky start on the mound.

Vaqueros starting pitcher Angelo Cabrel settled in from there, giving up 0 runs and just two hits in his final four innings of work.

The Vaqueros rewarded Cabral with another monstrous 6-run inning in the bottom of the fifth, powered by a two-run home run by Armani Raygoza and a two-RBI double from Damien Whitfield.

Wyatt Wiatrek finished thing off on the mound for the Vaqueros, allowing just one base runner on no hits and striking out four over the final two innings in route to the win.

Lamar's largest loss in conference play last season was just by four runs, and the only team to hand the Cardinals a loss by 10 runs or more during the regular season was the eventual national runners-up in the Texas A&M Aggies.