The Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team begins its run towards a
first-ever Southland Conference title on Wednesday when it takes on
top-seeded UTSA at 4 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Islanders,
who enter the tournament with a 22-31-1 record overall and 14-15-1
league mark, are the eighth seed in the tournament. UTSA finished
the conference season with a 22-8 mark and had a 38-17 overall
record.
The Islanders,
who are the first-ever eight seed as the tournament is expanding to
eight teams for the first team, won the series 2-1 over UTSA during
the regular season at Fairground Field in Robstown.
Omar Gutierrez,
who was named second-team All-Southland on Tuesday, led the
Islanders to a 12-3 win in the opener and will get the start in the
first round game. He pitched his first complete game in the win as
he struck out 14 batters which is the most this season in the
conference. In the second game, Trey Hernandez and Brycen Bell each
had two RBIs, while Roy Ferdin allowed two runs on seven hits in
7.2 innings in a 5-2 win.
UTSA won the
finale 11-2 scoring nine runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Zach Etheredge had three runs batted in and Tim Palincsar crossed
the plate three times for UTSA. A&M-Corpus Christi had four
errors in the game that led to five unearned runs.
Fans can follow
all the action several ways.
They can follow the play-by-play on
the radio
Corpus Christi on ESPN 1230 and on the web at www.goislanders.com
or www.espn1230.com. Live stats will be available
on www.goislanders.com
and www.southland.org, while live video will be
available for a fee on the Southland website. Those wanting to
attend games in person in Huntsville can find ticket information on
the Southland Conference website.
