Vaqueros battle back to take down Islanders in SLC tourney opener

Bryan Ramos

EDINBURG — The UTRGV Vaqueros won a share of the Southland Conference regular season championship by being a gritty team that never backed down from a fight.

That same toughness carried the Vaqueros to an 11-8 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their Southland Conference Tournament opener Thursday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.

No. 2 UTRGV moves on to the winner’s side of the Southland Conference Tournament’s Edinburg Bracket and will face No. 6 Houston Christian at 6 p.m. Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’ outfielder Evan Janner (10) celebrates as he round second base after hiting a home run past the left field wall during the second inning against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference Tournament bracket game at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium Thursday, May, 15, 2025, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])

The Vaqueros fell in an early 4-0 hole after one and a half innings, but they found a way to answer every time. UTRGV finished with 11 runs off 15 hits and six walks.

“We do know one thing — the first game is always the hardest,” UTRGV head coach Derek Matlock said. “Good fight by the Vaqueros. That’s what we’re going to have to do in this thing. We’re going to be fighting every minute with our pitching and the injuries we’ve had, but we have to overcome it with guys stepping up and throwing the ball in the strike zone.”

Center fielder Evan Janner put UTRGV on the board with a two-run home run to left center in the bottom of the second to cut the Islanders’ lead in half.

After adding another run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning, UTRGV second baseman Thomas Williams stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth and blasted a grand slam over the left field fence to put the Vaqueros in front 7-4.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Thomas Williams (1) watches his hit as he competes a grand slam home run during the fifth inning against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference Tournament bracket game at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium Thursday, May, 15, 2025, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])

Williams finished 2-for-3 with two walks, a grand slam and four RBI. The home run was Williams’ ninth on the year.

The Islanders tied the game at 7-7 with a three-run sixth inning, but UTRGV immediately responded with a four runs in the home half of the sixth to pull away 11-7.

Catcher Steven Lancia led the Vaqueros with a 3-for-4 game with three runs, two RBI and one walk. Janner went 1-for-5 with a home run. Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez finished 3-for-4 with one walk and two runs scored, while PSJA High alumnus Jacob Sanchez went 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Rene Galvan (25) catches a pop fly against the right field wall hit by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference Tournament bracket game at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium Thursday, May, 15, 2025, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])

UTRGV is now shifts its focus to Friday’s game against Houston Christian (28-23). Houston Christian defeated UTRGV 2-1 to win their three-game Southland series back on March 21-23 in Edinburg.

“We just have to play an all-around good game tomorrow if we’re going to have a chance against a Houston Christian team that’s really good and came in here and beat us two out of three earlier in the year,” Matlock said. “We got our hands full. We just have to play a little better on the pitching side and defensive side.”

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