HOUSTON - The Nebraska Cornhuskers handed Texas A&M-Corpus
Christi their first loss of the season winning 21-9 in the first
game of the Rice Invitational at Reckling Park.
The loss drops the Islanders to 3-1 on the season, while
Nebraska moves to 2-3 on the season. The Islanders take on Elon on
Saturday at 1 p.m. before the closing out the invite on Sunday at 3
p.m. versus the host Owls.
The Islanders jumped out to an early 2-1 lead after two innings
of play.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, Marc Damon ripped a
double down the left field line. Jacob Perales followed by painting
the right field line with a triple into the corner scoring Damon
off Cornhusker starting pitcher Sean Yost. Holland's RBI single
pushed the Islanders in front 2-1.
"We had a chance early to extend our lead and had a couple of
bad at bats that got us on our heels," said Islander head coach
Scott Malone. "We didn't extend it and then the dam wall
broke."
The Huskers awoke in the fourth and scored 18 runs in their next
four turns at the plate to take a 19-3 lead. Tyler Farst driving in
five runs including a three-run home run in the top of the fourth
that made it 7-2 at the time. Cody Asche drove in three runs while
five others had two RBI apiece.
The Islanders would score four runs in the seventh, while both
teams scored a pair in the ninth. Trey Hernandez, who finished
4-for-5 with six runs batted in, blasted a three-run home run in
the seventh and a two-run shot in the ninth. He now has three home
runs in the past two games and nine RBI. Chris Vergne and Matt
Holland each had two hits for the Islanders who finished with 12.
Nebraska finished with 19 hits in the game, but also benefitted
from 11 walks and two hit batters by the Islander pitching staff
and three errors. Entering the game, A&M-Corpus Christi
pitchers had nine walks combined in three games.
Sean Yost (1-0) earned the win for the Huskers as he allowed
three runs on seven hits, while striking out five in six innings.
Ian Campbell took the loss for the Islanders dropping to 1-1. He
allowed seven runs with six earned in 3-2/3 innings. Campbell
struck out four and walked four. Trevor Foss followed but left
after three batters due to injury. Six other relievers followed
with only Chris Pena not allowing a run tossing a scoreless
eighth.
"We got exposed in the bullpen today," said Malone. "It is part
of a process. We are trying to give everyone a chance to see what
they can do. There is still a lot time and we aren't going to
panic."
