The UTRGV baseball team rolled over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 20-2 on Tuesday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.
The Vaqueros (16-12) are now winners of four in a row.
The Vaqueros scored all their runs in four separate innings, including six in the first, three in the fourth, seven in the fifth and four in the sixth. The first inning was capped by a grand slam by sophomore Steven Lancia, and the fifth was capped by a grand slam by graduate student Brandon Pimentel. The Vaqueros finished with three home runs, as sophomore and Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez hit a two-run home run to end the fourth.
In the first, graduate student Montclair Cain started the scoring with a two-run double against Nash Villegas (0-1) before Lancia hit his first-career grand slam, his third home run of the season, to put the Vaqueros up 6-0.
In the fourth, Angel De La Cruz led off with a pinch-hit double. Two outs later, senior Zerek Saenz hit an RBI single and Lopez belted a two-run home run, his sixth, to make the score 9-0.
In the fifth, De La Cruz and Lancia hit RBI singles, Saenz drew a bases-loaded walk and Pimentel belted his grand slam off the scoreboard. Pimentel now has six home runs, including home runs in three straight games.
In the sixth, the Vaqueros scored runs on a bases-loaded walk by freshman and Sharyland Pioneer alumnus Juan Rivera, a wild pitch, and a Lopez two-run single.
Lancia went 2-for-3 with a career-high five RBIs and a career-high tying two runs scored. Lopez finished 2-for-4 with a career-high tying four RBIs and one run scored. Pimentel also drove in four runs, scored twice and went 1-for-4. De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior Roberto Gonzalez finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
UTRGV pitcher Kris Massey (1-0) was nearly unhittable in his first career start, pitching a career-high five innings and striking out a career-high six while allowing just one hit and two walks. Massey retired the first eight batters he faced before allowing a walk. He issued another walk with one out in the third before inducing a double play. The lone hit was a single with two outs in the fifth.
The Islanders (13-17) scored their runs with two outs in the seventh on a single by Leo Markotic.
UTRGV is scheduled to play Houston Christian for three games away from home this weekend.