CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (14-9, 4-2 Southland) attempted to put together a late rally in Tuesday evening's rivalry contest against rival UT-Rio Grande Valley (14-7, 0-0 WAC), but a tough Vaquero bullpen sealed a 6-2 decision in the second round of the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union. Despite a solid effort at the plate throughout the game, the Islanders never managed to generate any offensive rhythm between UTRGV's seven pitching substitutions, concluding the loss with 11 runners left on base and 12 total hits.
KEY INNINGS
Top | 1st
- The Vaqueros grabbed an early advantage during the game's second at-bat, as Anthony Gomez sliced a home run over the left-field fence for the 1-0 edge.
Top | 6th
- After expanding the lead to a 3-0 margin with runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, UTRGV continued to find ways home in the sixth frame. With one out down and the bases loaded, the Vaqueros picked up another run off a sacrifice fly before a wild pitch pushed the advantage to a 5-0 mark.
Top | 9th
- The Vaqueros wrapped up their scoring efforts in the ninth, notching their final run behind an RBI single for a 6-0 edge.
Bottom | 9th
-
Trevor Beard opened the final at-bat for the Islanders on a high-note, blasting a double down the left field line. Not to be outdone, sophomore
Steven Rivera-Chijin stepped in next and notched a double of his own into the left-center gap, scoring Beard and erasing the shutout possibility for UTRGV.
-
Andriud Martinez took over the nine-hole as a pinch hitter, finding pay dirt with a single through the left side to push Rivera-Chijin to third. The ensuing at-bat resulted in a double play, as Martinez and
Enrique Sanchez Jr. failed to reach base safely while Rivera-Chijin worked his way home, cutting the lead down to four runs.
- An
Itchy Burts double combined with a
Nick Anderson single set up the Islanders with runners at the corners, but the Vaquero bullpen wrapped up the final out against
Mike Williams, setting down the junior on strikes.
ON THE MOUND
- True freshman
Mason Hopkins picked up his first start as an Islander in just his fourth appearance, striking out three across a game-best 3.0 frames with just one run allowed on two hits. Fellow freshman
Steven Vejil and
Hayden Thomas combined for the next 4.0 frames on the hill, surrendering two runs each on four hits with six total strikeouts.
- Senior
Dylan Duarte and junior
Kal Kilgo knocked out an inning each to wrap up the game, setting down one batter on strikes while giving up just one run on two hits.
COMING UP NEXT
With the five-game home stand concluded, the Islanders return to the road for a quartet of matchups, initially facing Houston-Victoria on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. before traveling north to Louisiana for a three-game conference series against Nicholls, running Friday, Mar. 22 through Sunday, Mar. 24.
STAY SOCIAL
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@IslandersBSB), Instagram (
@IslandersBSB) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Baseball).
-- Go Islanders --
