After a week
off from taking 2-out-of-3 at Fairgrounds Field from Southland
Conference leader UTSA this past weekend, it doesn't get much
easier this weekend for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball
team as it hosts
Central Arkansas at Chapman Field.
The three-game
series begins Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday's game is 2 p.m. with the
finale on Sunday at noon. Sunday's game will be Senior Day and the
final contest at Chapman Field for 10 seniors – Brian
Anderson, Gus Arismendi, Mark Carrion, Bryan Gerondale, Omar
Gutierrez, Adrian Salinas, Paul Saville, Chase Wheaton, Chris
Widner, and Chase Williams.
The series will
be the final home series of the year for the Islanders, who are 6-0
this season at Chapman Field. They enter the series with a record
of 21-27 and are 13-11 in the league. A&M-Corpus Christi is
13-4 in last 17 games
UCA is 23-24
overall this season after knocking off its second nationally-ranked
opponent of the season in as many tries. The Bears downed No. 10
Wichita State on the road Tuesday night, 10-9. Ineligible for the
postseason, UCA is 10-14 in the league and have won four of its
last six conference games.
The Islanders
enter the series with the third-best offense in Southland
Conference action. The team is hitting .311 led by Bryan Gerondale
and .297 overall. Gerondale, who is in the midst of an 11-game
hitting streak, is averaging .368 in SLC play leading seven
teammates who are hitting .311 in conference action.
On the mound,
Omar Gutierrez, who will start Friday, is fourth in SLC play with
3.38 ERA, but leads the league with a .200 opponent's batting
average. He is 4-1 in league play. Overall, Gutierrez is 4-3 with a
3.42 ERA. He is the reigning Pitcher of the Week in the league
after striking out 14 against UTSA last Friday in a complete-game
effort. The 14 strikeouts were the most by a conference pitcher
this season.
Roy Ferdin will
start on Saturday with Justin Grota the Sunday starter.
Central Arkansas, which
won last year's series 2-1, is led on offense by Josh Huffman.
Huffman is hitting .329 on the season while the team is hitting
.284 as a group. Chris Houk
leads the team with eight home runs – with Payton Seelinger
– and has a team-high 41 RBIs.
Four hurlers
lead the Bears with four wins apiece. Reece Cross has a team best
3.47 ERA with four wins and three saves in 49.1 innings. Jeremy
Cloud, who will face Gutierrez in the opener, is 3-3 with 26
strikeouts. Bobby Pritchett is slate to start Saturday with not
Bear starter named for Sunday.
