UTRGV Baseball (17-17, 8-8) dominates Texas A&M Corpus Christi (13-23, 9-10) 14-4 in the South Texas Showdown Tuesday night at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium in what could be considered a full-circle moment.
The last outing between these programs was over 405 days ago on March 11, 2020. The Vaqueros would win 4-1 in what would infamously become the final game before COVID-19 forced college athletics to shut down.
During Tuesday’s game, the Vaqueros did not disappoint in front of a sellout crowd of 1,175.
The team promptly tacked on four runs in the first with a junior catcher RJ Ochoa two-RBI double; graduate second baseman Andy Atwood scoring on a wild pitch from junior reliever Henry Bird; and a groundout-RBI from graduate left fielder Elijah Alexander to lead 4-2.
In the second inning, the Vaqueros pulled ahead 5-2 on a RBI-sac fly from graduate center fielder Coleman Grubbs.
Grubbs would finish the day offensively with three hits, three RBI and one run in five at-bats.
Five runs came across home plate in the third as Alexander earned a seven pitch RBI-walk; graduate shortstop Christian Sepulveda would bring in a run on a single; both senior right fielder Jacob Hirsh and sophomore PH/3B Carson Letterman would hit RBI-sac flies to left and right field, respectively; and Grubbs would single to center.
The Vaqueros would be held to zeros on the scoreboard until the eighth inning when the team put up four runs on a Ochoa RBI-single, two wild pitches from sophomore reliever Tyler Miller that scored Alexander and Hirsh and a Grubbs RBI-double to enact the 10-run rule to close the game.
Having faced seven different pitchers on the night but the Vaqueros were able to knock 15 hits and earned five walks, a feat that UTRGV Head Coach Derek Matlock explained is not easy.
“That’s impressive, when you are facing a different guy every inning as a hitter,” Matlock said. You’re not seeing the same guy to make adjustments. I thought we hung in there and had some big at-bats.”
Despite committing three errors on defense, two at third base as graduate Conrado Diaz was not in the line as he awaits MRI results for a torn ligament in his thumb according to Matlock, the bullpen rotation for the Vaqueros held the Islanders to three earned runs.
Freshman starter Zach Tjelmeland, who had never started a game throwing 7.1 innings of work out the bullpen, had a career night setting a new mark by tossing 2.1 innings, striking out four and picking up his first collegiate win.
Despite surrendering a two-run shot to sophomore center fielder Braden Ryan in the first, Matlock was impressed by the velocity and command of Tjelmeland’s pitches.
“The first inning was really sharp,” Matlock said. “It didn’t look like it cause he gives up the two-runs but his stuff was really sharp. He was 90 [mph], 91 [mph] going downhill.”
The Islanders scored in the third on a single from freshman DH Josh Caraway and in the sixth on a defensive error from Sepulveda.
405 days ago, the world didn’t know what would happen with COVID-19 as sports around the globe shut down, classes moved online and social-distancing became a part of the lexicon.
However, currently the world seems to be turning a page as sports are in full swing, Zoom classes are the norm and there has been the creation and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Yet, in sports, rivalries never change, they only grow. All you have to do is ask the Packers and the Bears, the Yankees and the Red Sox or the Lakers and the Celtics. In a stretch of South Texas land no longer than 150 miles, no love has been lost between both of these programs despite the layoff.
“That’s a big rivalry for our guys,” Matlock said. “It’s kind of grown into a bigger one than I’ve imagined. Our guys get pretty excited to play against those guys.”
UTRGV will now host the Redhawks of Seattle U for a four-game series starting 6 p.m. Friday.
To listen to the game live, visit UTRGVRadio.com or download the RadioFX app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Twitter: @Radio_Rubio
