RIO GRANDE VALLEY–The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team extended its win streak to eight in a row with a 4-1 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Wednesday night at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. 
 
With the win, the Vaqueros (11-7) gain three points in the showdown standings. The next showdown event will be a baseball game on March 17 in Corpus Christi. 
 
Senior Elijah Alexander and junior Darian Luper each finished with a pair of hits, including an RBI double to pace the Vaqueros' (11-7) offense. 
 
The Islanders (8-10) got the scoring started in the top of the second inning. Justin Taylor led off with a single to right center before moving to third on a single by Bryce Balusek before a double play allowed Taylor to come in and score giving Corpus Christi the 1-0 lead. 
 
That would be the only run allowed from the UTRGV pitching staff as sophomore Kevin Palm (1-0) started a streak of seven scoreless innings from the bullpen. Palm got the win after pitching a scoreless third.
 
UTRGV got on the board in the bottom of the third. Junior EJ Taylor started the inning with a single and then moved to second on a wild pitch. Alexander then followed with an RBI double to deep center field allowing Taylor to score tying the game at 1-1. 
 
Later in the inning, senior Coleman Grubbs delivered an RBI single to right field scoring Alexander from third giving UTRGV the 2-1 lead. 
 
Senior Christian Sepulveda started off the sixth inning with a double and then came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Taylor that made it 3-1 UTRGV. 
 
Sepulveda started an another run scoring inning with a lead off walk in the eighth before moving to second on a stolen base. Luper followed with his RBI double scoring Sepulveda from second for the 4-1 UTRGV lead. 
 
Zach Rumfield (0-1) took the loss after allowing two runs in three innings while allowing four hits. 
 
UTRGV opens up a three-game series against Texas Southern on Friday at 7 p.m. at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. It's Texas Night. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a special Texas-themed giveaway. If UTRGV wins, fans can take home a buy one, get one free Raising Cane's box combo coupon. Current UTRGV students receive free admission to all UTRGV home games with a student ID. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at UTRGVTickets.com. Fans purchasing their tickets online prior to game day can save up to $2 per ticket. Gates open at 6.

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