CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After a long wait through the winter, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team finally gets the 2025 season underway this weekend, playing host to the University of Kansas for a four-game series at Whataburger Field.
The Islanders will officially kick off the new season against the Jayhawks on Friday, with first pitch for the opener currently scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. The games on Saturday and Monday will also begin at the same time, while the third game of the set on Sunday will start at 2 p.m.
"I'm excited for our players," said head coach
Scott Malone. "They're ready to go play against a team in a different jersey than ours. Kansas is ultra talented and will be a huge challenge for us, so it'll take our A-game for us to come out with a win."
The 2025 season marks the 18
th of Malone's career on the Island. In 2024, he oversaw a 22-win campaign, 10 of which came once Southland Conference play rolled around. The highlight of last season came in late March, when the team went on the road and pulled off a signature upset victory over Texas in Austin. This was just the sixth win over the Longhorns for the Islanders in program history, and it was their first time taking them down since 2019.
As for this season, A&M-Corpus Christi has a number of different players from last year looking to contribute again this season, the most notable of which being senior
Isaac Webb. The Arkansas native was an All-Conference First Team selection in 2024, earning the honor after finishing fourth in the Southland in hits with 81 and fifth in batting average at a mark of .339. Webb also led the Islanders in games played, at-bats, on-base percentage, runs scored and triples, numbers that helped him earn a spot on the All-Conference Preseason First Team for 2025.
Beyond Webb, the Islanders also have a few productive returners looking to anchor the lineup. Senior
Chance Reisdorph provided a spark for the team behind the dish last season by finishing second on the team in RBI with 35 while also posting an .832 OPS, while in the outfield, junior
Christian Smith-Johnson belted seven home runs and recorded an OPS of .786.
"The offense needs to be our bread and butter," Malone said. "Our older and experienced hitters need to show up day in and day out to help lead us to a great season."
A&M-Corpus Christi also has an All-Conference First Team member anchoring its rotation in senior
Zach Garcia, who posted a 4-3 record with a 4.94 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while striking out 64 batters against 23 walks in 82 innings, the fifth-highest total in the Southland. The lefty is currently scheduled to take the ball in the season opener on Friday, with a pair of newcomers in juniors
Luke Singleton and
Gage Burdick set to follow him on Saturday and Sunday. Monday's starter is still to be determined.
"Zach will lead they way on the mound," Malone said. "We just need some of the new guys to get in line and get comfortable in the roles we have them in."
Friday's matchup will be just the second ever between the Islanders and Jayhawks, with the first coming in a midweek matchup last February. A&M-Corpus Christi ended up falling to Kansas by a final score of 13-7, taking an early 4-0 lead before ultimately faltering in the later innings. Current senior
Drake Kerr led the way in that game, going 2-4 at the plate while picking up a season-high four RBI.
All four games this weekend will be available to watch on
FloBaseball.
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