Bryan Gerondale
hit a pair of home runs in the seventh and eighth inning to lift
the Islanders to a 10-8 win over Texas-Arlington. Gerondale finished with a team-high
three runs batted in.
A&M-Corpus
Christi starter Matt Wilson and Dillon Gee of UTA battled each
other strikeout for strikeout in the first five innings as they
combined for 14 strikeouts, nine of which came from Gee. The Mavericks broke a scoreless
tie in the second on a run scoring single by Leo Radkowski plating
John Mark Cleveland, who reached on a two-out double.
Wilson tossed six and one-third innings giving up five runs, four
of which were earned with eight strikeouts. The Islanders tied the game at one in
the bottom of the third thanks to a pair of hits and one of three
Arlington errors on the day. David Williams led off the inning with
a double to left center, followed by a walk by Martin Parra and a
single by Trae Williams. A
two-out throwing error by Kyle Rudy at shortstop enabled Gerondale
to reach while Williams scored from third.
The Islanders took
a 2-1 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Randy Aguayo, plating
Chris Widner, who led off the inning with a double down the left
field line. The Mavericks
answered with two runs in the sixth on a two-run shot by Ben Burum
over the right field wall to give them a 3-2 lead.
A&M-Corpus
Christi tied the game up once again in the bottom of the frame on a
Williams RBI double, his second of the game, driving in Jason
Graham.
A pair of runs in
the top of the seventh gave the Mavericks the lead for the last
time until the Islanders busted out with four runs in the bottom of
the inning to give them a 7-5 advantage. TAMUCC pounded out five of its 15 hits
in the seventh, including a two-run shot by Gerondale.
Both teams scored
three runs in the eighth before the Mavericks threatened in the top
of the ninth on a leadoff single by Mitch Putman followed by a
one-out walk to Reider.
Omar Gutierrez came in to close the door, striking out the final
two batters to pick up his first save of the year.
The two teams will
play game two of the three-game series tomorrow at 2 p.m. on
Chapman Field.
