ROBSTOWN
— The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team received its
second strong pitching performance in as many games as Roy Ferdin
limited UTSA to two runs in 7-2/3 innings of work and the Islanders
received some timely hits as they claimed a 5-2 win at Fairgrounds
Field on Saturday.
With
the win, the Islanders moved to 13-10 in the league surpassing last
year's win total in the Southland Conference and are a win from
their third conference sweep of the season. The team was 12-18 in
its first year in the SLC. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 21-26 on
the year. UTSA falls to 17-6 in the league and is 33-14
overall.
"We
did a good job of feeding off the momentum of yesterday's win,"
said Islander head coach Scott Malone. "We had good pitching and
had some real timely hits.
Winning breeds winning and today it felt like we were a winning
team coming in to the game. It was business as usual. The guys
really played like they expected to win this game."
Ferdin (2-5)
scattered seven hits and allowed two runs to earn the win. He
recorded 13 first-pitch outs as he kept the Roadrunners offense at
bay. Only four UTSA runners reached scoring position with a pair
win.
"
Roy was really good over 7-2/3 innings," said Malone. "He threw a
lot of strikes and didn't allow himself to get in trouble with too
many walks. This park played big with the wind blowing in today and
he used that to his advantage."
The Roadrunners
struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. James
Keithley began the game with a single off Ferdin. After moving to
second on a sacrifice bunt by Tim Palincsar, Keithley crossed the
plate on double down the line in right by Michael Rockett. The
double was the 23rd of the season for Rockett setting a new
single-season record at UTSA.
A&M-Corpus
Christi captured the lead in bottom of the second with a two-out
single by Brycen Bell. Back-to-back singles by Bryan Gerondale and
Ernie Olivarez started the inning. After Adrian Salinas went down
on strikes, Paul Saville hit a chopper to first to advance the
runners. Bell then pushed a single threw the left side of the
infield. Gerondale scored easily on the play, while Olivarez slid
in ahead of the throw.
"Brycen Bell's
two-out hit in the second was huge," said Malone, whose team scored
three of five runs with two away. "We did a good job of getting
some timely hits. Trey Hernandez had a big two-run double in the
third.
A&M-Corpus
Christi extended its lead to 3-1 with a two-out rally in the fifth.
Stephen Flora began the rally with a single and advanced to second
as Chase Wheaton walked. Flora scored on a single to left by Trey
Hernandez as the throw home by Aaron Powell was high.
UTSA tried to
make a comeback in the sixth with runners on first and third after
a one-out hit by Trey Lockwood put runners on the corners. Ferdin
ended the threat by getting Powell to ground into a 6-3 double
play.
The Islanders
added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh using the bunt as
a key weapon. Bell, who moved to second on an errant throw, and
Williams reached on bunt singles to start the inning. Bell scored
on a squeeze play with Flora putting down a bunt. A two-out double
by Hernandez knocked in Williams for a 5-1 lead.
Ferdin allowed
the Roadrunners there second run of the game in the eighth. He
walked Palincsar for the second time. With two outs, Ferdin allowed
a single to Lockwood to drive in Palincsar.
Bryant Sparkman
relieved Ferdin with two outs in the eighth. Sparkman allowed one
hit 1-1/3 innings for his first career save. It was the juniors
24th appearance of the season leaving him one shy of the
single-season mark.
"Sparkman
continues to be reliable out of the pen," said Malone. "He did a
good job of not letting them get anything started."
The series
concludes tomorrow at 2 p.m. with the Islanders' Justin Grota
facing UTSA's Kris Ruepke.
