The UTRGV baseball team fell to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 5-4 as part of the South Texas Showdown on Tuesday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.
The Vaqueros (9-7) now trail the Islanders (8-9) 28-26 in the showdown standings. There are 10 points still available, including six in track & field on Friday and Saturday as the two teams compete at the UTSA Invitational, three in baseball at Corpus Christi on April 11, and one for the baseball attendance point. In the event of a tie, the April 4 baseball game at UTRGV will be considered the tiebreaker.
The Vaqueros scored all their runs in the eighth. With one out, freshman Sharyland Pioneer alum Juan Rivera, making his collegiate debut, sliced a single into left field for his first career hit. Junior Kade York followed with a walk and senior Zerek Saenz hit an RBI-double to left. Sophomore Vela alum Isaac Lopez came up with a sacrifice fly and then graduate student Brandon Pimentel hit an RBI-single to left. After pinch-runner and graduate student Spencer Serven stole second, senior Roberto Gonzalez hit an RBI-double to make the score 5-4.
In the ninth, freshman PSJA North alum Damian Rodriguez walked and stole second, but Austin Dean struck out the next two batters for his first save.
Senior J.C. Ariza (0-2) started for the Vaqueros and struck out seven while allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk in 5.0 innings.
Brendan Ryan was a big part of the first four runs. In the first, he singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored on an error. In the fourth, he led off with a triple and scored on a Max Puls sacrifice fly. Ryan then hit a two-run triple in the fifth.
The Islanders added another run in the sixth on a two-out single by Chance Reisdorph.
Matthew Watson (1-1) made the runs stand up, pitching 5.0 hitless innings. Rodriguez was the first base runner, drawing a 10-pitch walk to leadoff the third. Watson faced the minimum through four before plunking Gonzalez to start the fifth. Watson ended the outing with his lone strikeout.
UTRGV hosts Sam Houston for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. General admission tickets and select concession items are available for $2 or less. Tickets are on sale now at UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.