After a weekend hiatus to compete in the Whataburger College
Classic last weekend, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball
team opens the home portion of its 2010 Southland Conference
schedule as Nicholls visits Chapman Field series for a three-game
series beginning Friday.
The first two games of the series will begin at 2 p.m., while
the start time for Sunday's game has been moved to noon in order to
accommodate the Islander women's second round game in the WBI which
is to start at 4 p.m.
The Islanders enter the weekend 8-8 and are 1-2 in the
Southland. Nicholls is 11-5 overall and won its conference-opening
series with Lamar a week ago 2-1.
"Nicholls has been really impressive early on," said Islander
head coach Scott Malone. "They may be the most improved team in the
league this season through the early part of the season."
Entering the series, the Islanders will be looking to gain some
momentum and improve on recent performances.
"We need make sure we do everything better," said the Islander
skipper. "We need to pitch better and more consistently. We have to
defend better, stop the bunting game and slow the other team's
running game, and be more offensive. While Nicholls is playing
well, we need to worry about us and make sure we are doing what we
can to become a better team."
The Islanders won the first six meetings between the sides in
Southland Conference play, but last season the Colonels snapped the
streak sweeping the series at home in Thibodaux, La. The Islanders
were held to seven runs with just four earned, while the Colonels
hit .340.
Entering this weekend, Weston Montgomery has been hot for the
Islanders entering with a 13-game hitting streak. The sophomore's
average is now an even .400 which is second on the team and in
third in the Southland Conference. Montgomery is tied for the
league lead with 26 hits.
Chris Vergne leads not only the Islanders but the Southland with
a sizzling .434 average. He is tied for third in the SLC with 19
runs scored and is seventh with a .492 on-base percentage. Trey
Hernandez is first in the conference with 26 runs batted in and
tied for the lead with six home runs. Bobby Buckner is tops with
three triples.
The Islanders are currently second in the SLC with a .315
average. Including Vergne and Montgomery, five other players are
hitting over .300 - Omar Garcia (.375), Marc Damon (.333), Cory Ege
(.314), Hernandez (.310), and Buckner (.305).
On the mound, the Islanders' Chris Pena leads the SLC in
appearances with 10.
The Colonels are hitting .297 as a team led by Adam Miley. Miley
leads the team with a .356 average, four home runs, and 18 RBI.
Blake Bergeron is second with a .344 average and shares the team
lead for runs scored with Miley. Two other regulars - Chase
Jaramillo (.338) and Kasey Culverson (.306) - average .300 at the
plate.
The Colonels have displayed tremendous improvement on the mound.
They enter with a staff ERA of 4.04 which is third in the league.
Nicholls staff is holding opposing hitters to a league-best .233
average. Led by Cullen Babin (1.62) and Ryan Cooper (3.00) who are
amongst the league leaders, four Colonels with at least 16-2/3
innings pitched have an ERA under four.
All three games will be carried on www.goislanders.com with live
audio, video and stats available.
