COPRUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team capped Senior Day with a 5-2 rubber match victory over UIW in the regular season finale to secure a 23-22 overall record on the year, the program's first winning season since 2011.
Under second year head coach
Kathleen Rodriguez, the Islanders (23-22, 11-13 SLC) have posted back-to-back 20+ win seasons and finally finished a season in the win column. The program hadn't had a winning season since 2011 when the Islanders finished 41-19.
It comes after A&M-Corpus Christi closed out its third conference series win of the year with the 5-2 win in the regular season finale against UIW (16-30-1, 8-17 SLC). It was also Senior Day, where the Islanders honored four seniors:
Gabriella Torres,
Alexandria Torres,
Quinn De Avila, and
Shelbie Fickling.
An early barrage is what helped the Islanders, who scored four runs in the second and their final run in the third. Three straight singles by junior
Sydney Hoyt, De Avila, and freshman
Mimi Thornton loaded the bases before junior
Kimane Rogron's sacrifice fly sent Hoyt home.
Sophomore
Monee Montilla was the next at-bat, who put the ball in play to plate the other two runners and advance on the throw to second. Up 3-0, A. Torres singled up the middle for the RBI as the Islanders led it 4-0.
The trio of Hoyt, De Avila, and Thornton repeated their previous at-bats with another three straight singles. Hoyt was able to run home for the second time off Thornton's single.
G. Torres and junior
Sidney Campion each knocked a hit in later innings, but the five early runs were all the Islanders could muster as the defense stepped up for the final four innings.
UIW scored two in the fourth to bring the game within three, but freshman
Ariella Saenz entered the circle in relief and struck out the batter for the final out of the inning. The Cardinals would threaten again in the fifth before junior
Primrose Aholelei headed out and stranded the runners to keep UIW at two runs.
Aholelei kept the Cardinals scoreless the whole way in relief, earning the win in the circle. Neither of UIW's two runs were earned.
G. Torres ended the season on a seven-game hitting streak and 13-game streak of reaching base. She batted .404 in conference play while her sister followed behind her at a .345 mark.
The Islanders secured the No. 5 seed for the SLC Tournament next week in Lake Charles, hosted by top-seeded McNeese. They will face No. 4 Lamar Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT as the opening game of the tournament. All tournament games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
A&M-Corpus Christi beat Lamar 2-1 in this year's series.
Click here to view the full tournament bracket.
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Softball, keep up with the team via their Facebook page (
Islanders Softball) and follow the program on Twitter (
@IslandersSball) and Instagram (
islanderssball).
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