FRISCO, Texas – Following an excellent showing over the weekend that saw him lock down a pair of crucial conference victories, junior
Chase Mayer of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week for the voting period of March 23-29, as announced by the league office on Monday.
Mayer helped the Islanders take two out of three games in their set against UTRGV in Edinburg, earning the save in both of their wins to help them secure their first series victory over the Vaqueros since the 2022 season. The lefty first appeared on Friday and came up clutch in a huge spot, entering from the bullpen with the bases loaded and no outs with a three-run lead in the seventh and escaping unscathed with a line drive double play and a flyout before sitting down six of the final seven hitters of the game to secure the three-inning save. He was then called upon to face the heart of UTRGV's order in the ninth inning of the finale on Sunday, striking out No. 2 hitter Thomas Williams and getting the current Southland Conference home run leader Armani Raygoza and cleanup hitter Julius Ramirez out on a grounder and a fly ball respectively to finish off a perfect 1-2-3 frame.
"I am beyond proud of Chase," Islanders head coach
Scott Malone said. All season long he has taken the ball in the biggest spots. He is a team-first player, and his teammates all believe in him. I hope he has plenty more left in the tank for the rest of the spring."
After the weekend of play, Mayer holds a sterling ERA of 2.16, which is the second-best on the Islanders among those to appear in multiple games. In addition, he also sits with three saves so far this year, which is currently tied for first in the Southland Conference.
Mayer is the third A&M-Corpus Christi player to earn a weekly conference honor in the 2026 campaign, joining graduate
Cade Sanchez from February 16 and junior
Easten Smith on February 23. Along with Smith, Mayer's nod gives the Islanders two different Pitchers of the Week this season, making them the only team in the conference to have a pair of unique winners of either award so far this year. His win also makes it the first time that the Islanders have had two or more players earn Pitcher of the Week in a single season since 2023, with the honors that year going to Colin Purcell and Matthew Watson.
Mayer and the rest of the Islanders will be back in action this week, first taking on the Corpus Christi Hooks in an exhibition game at Whataburger Field on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. before then returning to Chapman Field for a three-game series with Stephen F. Austin that starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
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