Baseball Drops First Game to UTRGV

EDINBURG, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball program lost its first matchup against UTRGV in the NavyArmy Community Credit Union 4-0 at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

"UTRGV is a good team and always get up and play well," said head coach Scott Malone. "I thought [sophomore] Kennedy Parks was doing well for us and they got after him and banged the ball around. That's what we need to do to win games like this."

Sophomore Brendan Ryan made it to base first for the Islanders after the catcher dropped the ball on a swinging strikeout and was unable to recover in time. Ryan stole second shortly after for his 11th stolen base of the season. With the additional base, he now sits tied for the eighth-most stolen bases in all of D1 college baseball this season. The inning ended on a fly-out shortly after. Cassius Shy started on the mound for A&M-Corpus Christi, proceeding to throw a season-high five innings, only allowing four hits while earning the same number of strikeouts.

Max Puls, another sophomore, singled down the left-field line on a full count in the first at-bat of the second inning. During sophomore Tyler Linneweber's at-bat, Puls was caught stealing and Linneweber was hit by pitch directly after to get on base. A double play by UTRGV sent the game into the bottom of the inning. Once there, freshman Chance Reisdorph showed his defensive prowess by quickly snatching up a ball about to go foul to tag the lead base runner for an out.

Freshman John Maldonado Jr. reached base on an error by the second baseman, but a double play ended the half shortly after. With runners on first and third base and two outs on the board, a ball was shot out to the center field, and right as it looked to drop, Ryan made a diving catch to save the inning.

The lead-off hitters each took base in the fourth as junior Leo Markotic got to first on an error by the shortstop, advancing to second as Ryan was hit by a pitch. A strikeout and two fly-outs ended the inning.

Senior Steven Rivera-Chijin brought the Islanders' bats back to life with a double in the top of the fifth. A sacrifice bunt by Reisdorph allowed Rivera-Chijin to advance to third before a strikeout added a second out to the half. Sophomore Brandon Petkoff took first base on a hit by a pitch and stole second shortly after. A strikeout by Markotic brought the fifth to an end. Beginning the sixth was a single by Ryan, the Southland Hitter of the Week. He advanced his way to second on another single by Puls before both were left on base, ending the top half of the sixth. Sophomore Colin Purcell relieved Shy, pitching 1.1 innings after.

Malone made some edits to the lineup in the seventh inning by having freshman Cole Modgling and sophomore Tre Jones pinch-hit for the Islanders. No one scored, sending the game into the bottom of the inning. Junior Justin Lewis came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh for the Islanders while junior Justin Taylor came in to catch. Lewis collected an out for the team before sophomore Kennedy Parks came in for relief with two outs on the board. Ryan was the last Islander to reach base in the game in the eighth inning, getting on first by an error and second on the same play.

Despite the loss, Malone praised Ryan saying, "He's a great player and dynamic. He's got MLB skills. You can't steal 11 bases without great attention to detail and being talented."

A&M-Corpus Christi will get two days of rest before hosting Prairie View A&M for a three-game series this weekend at Chapman Field.

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