Islanders Baseball Edges UTRGV In South Texas Showdown

EDINBURG, Texas - In the first game of the South Texas Showdown presented by Rally Credit Union, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball (8-9) edged out UTRGV (9-7) 5-4 on the road at UTRGV Baseball Stadium Tuesday evening. It marks the first time the Islanders have beat the Vaqueros on the road since February 2018.

"We just wanted to come out and play well," said head coach Scott Malone. "Matthew Watson went out and set the tone with five straight zeros and kept those guys off balance. I thought at the end with Hendricks getting the last out of the eight and Dean with the last three of the game, I was really proud as those are always hard outs to get.

Senior Brendan Ryan wasted no time in the game as he scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead. He got on base with a single through the right side before advancing to second on a wild pitch. He rounded the last two bases on a stolen base and a throwing error by the catcher.

After two quiet innings, Ryan struck again in the fourth inning after hitting a team-high sixth triple on the season to give the Islanders the sole lead in the nation once again over UTSA with 15 in the 2023 campaign. After getting on base, he scored two batters later when classmate Max Puls hit a sacrifice fly to bring Ryan home.

The Islanders plated two more in the ensuing inning as Ryan hit his second triple of the game and seventh of the season to drive in two more runners to extend the lead to 4-0. Ryan's triple tied the nation leader coming into the game and extended the team's nation-leading mark of 16 on the season.

A&M-Corpus Christi scored for the third consecutive inning in the sixth off of a single by sophomore Chance Reisdorph to drive in junior Jose Enriquez. Enriquez reached base in the previous at-bat on a double down the third-base line. UTRGV struck back in the bottom of the eighth with four runs to make it a one-run game heading into the final inning of play.

Matthew Watson, a redshirt sophomore, made the start on the mound and threw five innings for the Islanders, not allowing a single hit on 16 batters faced while striking out one. Sophomore Marco Gutierrez entered in relief of Watson to start the sixth inning, continuing not to allow a hit on the day through five batters.

Redshirt junior Jaime Ramirez Jr. pitched through the seventh inning to keep the Islanders' hopes of a no-hitter alive, but two hits in the eighth inning ended the team's bid. Ramirez Jr. pitched 1.1 innings while striking one batter out looking before freshman James Trimble came in relief. Trimble pitched a third of an inning before junior Evans Hendricks came in to close out the inning. Classmate Austin Dean came into the game in the top of the ninth inning to earn the last three outs of the game.

Ryan's performance of two triples tied him with junior Tre Jones and five others for the most triples in a game, last done by Jones against Lindenwood.

The victory marks the 50th win over UTRGV in the all-time series.

The Islanders plan to take a day of rest before picking things back up at home for a four-game series against Harvard at Chapman Field Thursday through Saturday.

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