THIBODAUX – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team
pounded out 14 hits Saturday evening but it wasn't enough as
Nicholls handed the Islanders a 6-3 loss in the series finale.
The Islanders
drop to 4-15 on the season with the loss and are searching for
their first Southland Conference win of the season as they dropped
to 0-6. The Colonels moved to 9-7 on the season and are 4-2 in the
SLC.
After leaving
four runners on base in the first two innings, A&M-Corpus
Christi jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the
third. Stephen Flora reached on a double with one out. After Martin
Parra walked, Flora went to third on a single by Jeramie Marek and
scored as the ball was misplayed by Chris Murrill.
The Islanders
were unable to add any more runs with the bases loaded when the
inning ended. They stranded 14 runners in the game including seven
in scoring position.
The Colonels
answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning off Islander
starter Brandon Orr to take a 3-1 lead. Kevin Schlegel and Murrill
each singled. With one away, Keith Kulbeth tripled and scored on a
throwing error by Ernie Olivarez.
"We did a lot
of good things tonight that we hadn't been doing," said Islander
head coach Scott Malone. "Brandon Orr gave us a solid start and
really competed. He got stronger as the game went on and that says
a lot about the type of competitor he is and that is the type of
competitor we want on the mound for us.
"We did a
better job of hitting the ball, but when it came down to need the
big hit with two outs, Nicholls got the job done. I really believe
hitting is contagious and we just needed some things to go our way
and have some success. Hopefully, things can go our way on Tuesday
and Wednesday against a Big 12 team."
The Islanders
tied the game at three with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth.
Flora, who led the Islanders with three hits, led off the inning
with a home run off starter Tyler Minto. With one away, Marek
reached on a Nicholls error and went to third on a single by pinch
hitter Justin Greiner that chased Minto, who had seven strikeouts
in 4-1/3 innings, from the game. Trey Hernandez greeted Drew Erving
with a RBI single.
Once again, the
Colonels promptly answered breaking the 3-3 tie with a pair of runs
in the bottom of the fifth. With two away in the inning, Murrill
doubled and scored on a single by Kulbeth. Scott Moseley drove in
Kulbeth with a double to left-center field.
Blake Bergeron
tripled off Orr in the bottom of the eighth to drive in Adam Miley
for the final run of the game.
Orr suffered
the loss for the Islanders tossing a season-high 7-2/3 innings. He
allowed six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and a pair of
walks. Jake Liedka recorded the final out of the eighth inning.
Ross Larson
earned the win for Nicholls tossing 3-2/3 innings of scoreless
relief. He scattered three hits with a strikeout.
Led by Flora's
three hits, five Islanders had multiple hits. Jacob Perales, Jeremy
Narvaez, Ernie Olivarez and Hernandez each had a pair of hits.
Islander hitters struckout eight times in the game including
strikeouts to end the inning with runners on base on three
occasions.
Nicholls
finished the day with eight hits. The No. 1 and No. 2 hitters
– Murrill and Kulbeth – combined for five of the
hits.
The Islanders
step out of league action with a pair of midweek games with Texas
Tech. The teams will play single games on Tuesday and Wednesday at
6:30 p.m. at Whataburger Field.
