The Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team split a pair of contests on
Saturday at the Whataburger College Classic defeating Texas-Pan
American 12-7 in the afternoon before falling 16-2 to
Alabama in the nightcap.
With the split,
the Islanders go to 4-9. UTPA is 0-11 and Alabama, which is ranked
No. 23 in the Rivals.com poll is 8-3. The Islanders and Broncs meet
in the final game of the tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Against UTPA,
Weston Montgomery had the best game of his young career hitting a
pair of home runs as he 2-for-5 with five runs batted in. Martin
Parra drove in three runs as he was 2-for-4 at the plate, while
Trey Hernandez hit his fifth home run of the season to lead the
Islanders and now has four home runs in the last four games.
Meanwhile, Justin Grota moved to 2-0 on the season scattering seven
hits over five innings of work.
With the game
tied at one heading into the top of the fourth, the Islanders took
the lead with three runs. Parra broke the tie with an RBI double
while Montgomery and Omar Garcia each drove in a run.
After UTPA
added a run in the bottom of the inning, the Islanders tallied
seven runs in the fifth off the UTPA starter Doug Roth, who took
the loss, and Nathan Molina. Parra's two-run single began the
scoring. After Ernie Olivarez scored on a Jacob Perales single,
Montgomery, who led off the third with a solo shot, belted his
three-run home run for an 11-2 lead.
Jordan Rutenbar
closed the gap to seven runs with a two-run homer off Grota in the
bottom of the fifth.
TAMUCC
relievers Brett Gips and Trevor Foss held the Broncs at bay in the
sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Gips pitched two innings of one
hit baseball striking out three, with Foss pitching one scoreless
inning.
After
Hernandez's solo home run in the top of the ninth extended the
Islander to 12-4, the Broncs scored three runs with two outs in the
bottom of the ninth including a two-run home run by Jose
Salmons.
In the second
game of the day, things were not as smooth against the
nationally-ranked Crimson Tide.
Alabama scored
15 runs in the first five innings off four Islander pitchers en
route to a 16-2 The Crimson Tide finished the game with 21 hits led
by Brandon May who posted a game-high four hits while scoring four
runs. NCAA leader Kent Matthes hammered two home runs for nine on
the season finishing with five RBI. Jake Smith was 3-for-5 with a
homer and four RBI.
Flora led the
Islanders with two hits including a solo home run as TAMUCC
finished with seven hits.
Adam Morgan
picked up the win to improve to 2-0. He allowed two runs with one
earned on six hits, while striking out six in 5-1/3 innings. Nathan
Kilcrease, David Head and Jimmy Nelson pitched the final 3-1/3
innings allowing one hit while fanning four.
Roy Ferdin took
the loss for the Islanders falling to 1-2. He allowed five runs
with two earned on seven hits in two innings of work. Brett Gibson
allowed two over five innings on five hits. Jesse Maldonado gave up
three runs on three hits 2-1/3 innings of work, while Philip Garcia
permitted two runs in a third of an inning. Jake Liedka pitched two
innings of scoreless relief while striking out four. Bryant
Sparkman pitched an inning allowing a run while Hernandez pitched a
scoreless ninth.
