Walk-Off Clinches South Texas Showdown

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi clinched this year's South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union in dramatic fashion, tallying a walk-off win against UTRGV this Tuesday night.

The Islanders spotted their rival three runs in the opening two innings, before going on a 5-0 stint in the proceeding third of the contest. Leading off the frame with a single, starting center fielder Dalton Stark would get things moving for the Blue and Green in the fourth, eventually scoring on a two-RBI double from Itchy Burts. In his third start of the season, Burts finished the afternoon with two knocks and a walk, as the home team entered the fifth down by a single run. 

Back-to-back knocks from Harrison DiNicola and Nick Anderson would put runners on the corners for Jackson Owens in the fifth, who responded with a sac fly RBI. Anderson would eventually cross home on a Luke Marbach single, while Dinicola put the home team ahead by two runs, on his own sacrifice fly in the sixth. 

Three hits over the next two frames were enough to put the Vaqueros back even with the Islanders, as the two rivals entered the bottom half of the ninth all knotted at five runs apiece.

Reaching first for a second time on the evening, Owens took a hit by pitch to open the frame, to put the winning run on first. The senior stole back-to-back bases to put himself on third, while a pair of walks from Marbach and RJ Ruiz loaded the bases for second baseman Andriud Martinez. The middle infielder jumped on the first pitch he saw in his at bat, knocking a shallow single to second to score Owens and collect the Islanders' first walk-off victory of the season.

The Islanders' win completes the sweep of this season's two-game series with the Vaqueros. Already holding a two-point advantage in the standings, the Blue and Green victory secures their hold on the South Texas Rivalry trophy at a 25.5-20.5 difference. 

Reliever Cole Carter earned the win for the Islanders, tossing the last 1.2 innings of Tuesday's matchup. The senior tallied three Ks against the eight batters he faced, while keeping the Vaqueros scoreless during his time on the bump.

• Burts tied a career-high with two RBI on the night, while finishing 2-for-4 at the plate
• With his fifth inning double, Dinicola has tallied an extra base hit in his last six appearances, and is slugging .913 since March 11th
• Left hander Cody Lecompte struck out a career-high six batters over 2.1 IP, sitting down his first six outs of the night on strikes
• Owens' two stolen bags in the ninth inning set a new career-high for the senior
• Eight Islanders tallied hits against the Vaqueros, with Anderson, Stark and Burts all collecting a pair

COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders get on the road to faceoff with UH-Victoria in game two of the club's season series against the Jaguars. Leonel Perez is expected to get his third start of the season in that game, after earning his first career-win against UHV in the Islanders 10-0 victory earlier this year.

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