CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team, which is receiving votes in the
USA Today Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls for the third week in a row, fell to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 3-2 on Sunday at Chapman Field as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The Vaqueros (19-8, 12-3 SLC) earned four of the available six points in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, during the series. The Islanders (10-20, 2-10 SLC) currently lead 28-22 with four events worth 10 total points remaining.
Senior
Hank Warren led the Vaqueros offensively by going a career-high tying 3-for-3 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored. Sophomore
Easton Moomau finished a career-high tying 3-for-5.
Junior Los Fresnos alum
Víctor Loa was dominant on the mound, pitching 5.0 innings of 1-hit ball, striking out four while walking three. The lone hit was a bunt single in the first.
The Vaqueros loaded the bases with one out in the first, setting up a sacrifice fly by junior
Thomas Williams to put the Vaqueros up 1-0.
Freshman
Harrison Thayer (1-1) took over in the sixth. With one out,
Trey Cruz singled off Thayer's leg, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on an RBI-single by
Isaac Webb to tie the game.
Then, with a runner at second and two outs in the eighth,
Logan Vaughan hit a fly ball to shallow center that hit off the outstretched glove of a diving graduate student Vela alum
Isaac Lopez to allow
Drake Kerr to score to put the Islanders up 2-1.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the ninth, as Warren led off with a double, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the inning, though
Jarrett Flaggert led off with a single. Pinch-runner
Josh Blount moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Junior
Steven Oliva came in, and on the first pitch he threw,
Christian Smith-Johnson hit a walk-off doubl down the left field line.
That made a winner of
Gage Burdick (2-2), who worked out of a bases loaded jam with two outs in the top of the ninth.
UTRGV visits Rice Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on
ESPN+.
The next events of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, are on April 12 when the tennis teams visit Corpus Christi. The women play at 10 a.m. followed by the men at 2 p.m. Each match is worth three points.
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