EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team had its run at the Southland Conference Baseball Championship come up short on Saturday afternoon, falling at the hands of No. 2 UTRGV in an elimination game to bring its 2025 season to a close.
Squaring off against the host Vaqueros for the second time in the past three days, the Islanders found themselves playing from behind early on, falling in a quick hole thanks to a pair of runs put on the board by UTRGV in the second inning. In contrast to the hot start that they got off to in Thursday's contest, their bats were slow to get going after this first punch, failing to plate any in response through the first four frames. The team had its opportunities at this time, putting at least one runner on in each inning and advancing them into scoring position in both the third and the fourth, but these chances slipped through its fingers without getting anyone past second base.
The first breakthrough for A&M-Corpus Christi came once the sixth inning rolled around, finally heating up and chasing UTRGV starter Angelo Cabral from the game after taking its first lead of the day. The outburst got going almost immediately, as the Islanders loaded the bases after just three batters on a hit-by-pitch from junior
Karson Krowka and consecutive singles by senior
Drake Kerr and junior
Jackson Smith. A free pass drawn by senior
Isaac Webb would plate the first run of the game right after, and following a strikeout for the first out of the frame, senior
Cade Sanchez worked a well-earned walk of his own to level the game up at two apiece. A fielder's choice brought up pinch hitter
Will Stark with a chance to further cash in with two outs, and he did exactly that, drawing the third bases-loaded walk of the inning to put the visitors up for the first time.
This advantage would unfortunately not hold for long, as UTRGV would get its Southland-leading offense going in full gear in the sixth, plating eight runs to put the Islanders back in a deep deficit once again. A solo home run by Sanchez in the seventh provided something of a response, but this would be the only scoring for the rest of the afternoon, with the team going down quietly in the eighth and ninth to put an end to the game and the season.
On offense, Sanchez was the key performer for the Islanders on the day, putting together their biggest swing of the day and driving in two of their four runs while also recording two hits in his four at bats. Smith was the other standout at the plate, recording the only other multi-hit performance of the afternoon and picking up the only other extra-base hit with his double in the third inning. On the mound, junior
Preston Watkins was the bright spot, working 2.1 scoreless innings to keep the game within striking distance.
Saturday marked the last game in the collegiate careers of a few different Islanders, including Webb and Kerr, who both put together excellent showings in their final days with the program. In the three games of the conference tournament, Webb went 4-13 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored, and Kerr went 4-15 with four RBI and two runs scored. Webb concludes his two-year A&M-Corpus Christi career with 41 total stolen bases, which places him in a tie for fourth in program history.
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