The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team returns to
Chapman Field this weekend to face nationally-ranked Southeastern
Louisiana in a three-game series beginning Friday at 2 p.m.
Saturday's game is also at 2 p.m. with Sunday's finale at 1
p.m.
The Islanders enter the weekend 14-23 overall and 6-12 in the
Southland Conference. They are currently just two games out of the
final spot in the upcoming conference tournament with 15 league
contests to play.
Southeastern comes to Corpus Christi with a 29-10 overall record
and a 12-6 Southland Conference mark. They are 20th in
this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll,
24th in the USA Today/ESPN poll and entered the Baseball
America poll at No. 25. The Lions join UCLA, Rice, Oklahoma, and
Texas as ranked opponents to face the Islanders this season.
The Islanders will be looking to build on the momentum they
built against the Southland Conference's top offense entering last
week despite going 1-2. After struggling on the mound for much of
the season, the Islanders held Stephen F. Austin to 11 runs in
three games a week ago. A&M-Corpus Christi held SFA, which
entered the weekend with a .330 team average was tops in the
Southland, to nine hits or less in all three games. They lost the
first two games 4-3 before claiming the finale 6-3.
With the success on the mound a weekend ago, the Islanders will
send the same rotation to the mound that faced the Lumberjacks a
week ago. Jake Liedka will start the opener followed by fellow left
Adam Hoelscher, who will be making his second start of the season.
Brandon Orr, who earned the win last Sunday, will start the final
game for the second-straight week.
Liedka is 2-1 on the season with a 6.90 ERA. At SFA, the senior
pitched eight innings allowing four runs with three earned in a
complete-game effort. He struckout four in the outing with one
walk.
In his first collegiate start, Hoelscher tossed five innings
permitting three runs on six hits with three Ks. It was his longest
outing of the season. At 3.86, Hoelscher's ERA is the lowest on the
team, while his 3.32 mark in league games is ninth in the league.
His 17 appearances are second on the team to Chris Pena's 19. Pena
is tied for first in appearances, and Hoelscher is tenth.
Orr made his eighth start of the season last earning his second
win of the season. The senior tossed a season-high eight innings
allowing no hits in his final six innings while retiring the side
1-2-3 in five of those innings. He had five strikeouts. Orr allowed
two runs lowering his ERA nearly a point.
Southeastern leads the league in pitching with a 3.80 ERA in all
games. Brandon Efferson, who will start the opener, is tops in the
Southland with a 7-1 ERA, while his 2.35 ERA is second. Starting
game two is Tyler Watkins, who is 3-2 on the season. The starter
for Sunday has not been chosen. The Lions have a solid bullpen with
two players recording five or more saves. Chris Franklin has seven,
while Josh Janway has five.
On the year, the Islanders are hitting two points better than
Southeastern. Caleb Marx leads A&M-Corpus Christi with a .408
average. In league games, Trey Hernandez leads the Islanders with a
.382 average. On the year, Hernandez is second with 45 RBI and
third with 11 home runs. He is currently tied with Jaime Landin for
the all-time record in RBI with 134.
The Lions have six regulars hitting over .300 lead by Justin
Boudreaux. Boudreaux leads the Southland with 48 RBI and is fourth
with 10 home runs. He also has a team-best 14 stolen bases which is
fourth in the SLC. Jeff Harkensee and Cody Gougler are each hitting
.333
All three games have live stats, audio and video available on
live stats.
