SAN MARCOS -
The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi baseball team scored eight
runs in the top of the ninth inning to turn a 5-3 deficit into an
11-5 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Friday evening at Bobcat
Stadium. Caleb
Marx and Jumpy
Garcia both went deep in the ninth to propel the Islanders
(37-23) to the win.
Jeramie
Marek went 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, while Garcia went
3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. Trey
Hernandez, Chris
Vergne and Marx each had two hits in the victory. Darren
Crabtree, Bryson Myles and Jarid Scarafiotti each delivered two
hits in the loss for SFA (36-22), with Crabtree knocking in three
runs.
Phillip
Garcia got the win out of the pen to improve to 3-1 on the
season, punching out one in 2/3 of an inning. Jason West collected
the loss, as he allowed four runs without retiring a batter.
Trailing 5-3 heading into the ninth, Marx pinch-hit to start the
frame and obliterated a West offering for a solo homer to trim it
to 5-4. Marek then drew a walk to represent the tying run, and Matt
Holland ripped a double to left center, plating Marek to tie
the game 5-5. The double, Holland's 20th of the year, tied the
Islanders single-season record and extended the senior's hitting
streak to 17 games.
Holland gave way to pinch-runner Sean
Washington at second, and Hernandez followed with a walk. After
Vergne moved the runners into scoring position with a groundout,
the Jacks intentionally walked Jacob
Perales to load the bases. Reliever Brad Oates then had his
first pitch to Weston
Montgomery bounce off the front of the plate, and Washington
flew home on the wild pitch for a 6-5 lead.
Another intentional walk loaded the bases for Logan
Nottebrok, who beat out a potential double-play ball to score
the seventh run. Garcia then delivered the knockout blow with a
three-run homer to left center to make it 10-5, and a Marek RBI
single plated the final tally. Roy
Ferdin came on to get the final three outs for the
Islanders.
The Lumberjacks cracked the scoreboard first with a run on two
hits in the bottom of the opening frame. Garrett Smith started the
rally with a one-out single to left center and then moved up 90
feet on a wild pitch. Crabtree followed, and grounded a 3-2 pitch
just out of the reach of a diving Hernandez for an RBI single and a
1-0 lead.
In the third, SFA doubled its lead. Myles delivered a leadoff
infield single, but a pair of fielder's choices left Crabtree at
first with two down. The first baseman executed a delayed steal to
move into scoring possession, then came home when Scarafiotti
dribbled a single up the middle for an RBI base knock and a 2-0
advantage.
The Islanders responded with a run in the top of the fourth to
trim the lead to 2-1. Hernandez led off with a double to right
center, then moved up to third base when West's pickoff attempt
went into center field. Vergne followed, and rapped a single up the
middle to plate his classmate and make the score 2-1.
In the top of the fifth, the Islanders rallied to garner their
first lead of the contest. Jumpy
Garcia led off by roping a double to right center, then moved
to third on a Drew
Vest sac bunt. Marek followed and blooped a single behind the
second baseman for an RBI to tie the game 2-2. Marek then swiped
his second base of the day, and Hernandez came through again,
singling to center for a 3-2 Islanders lead.
The lead was shortlived, though, as the Jacks scored two runs on
two hits and two errors in the bottom of the fifth to regain a 4-3
advantage. Crabtree delivered the big base knock, slicing a single
to center for a pair of RBI. The score stayed that way until the
bottom of the eighth, when SFA tacked on an insurance run on a
Jordan Lewis RBI single to make it 5-3 before the Islanders
unleashed their onslaught in the ninth.
The Islanders and Lumberjacks will now go head-to-head in an
elimination contest on Saturday, with the winner bound for the
championship game. The game will be a 9 a.m. start. Stay tuned to
GoIslanders.com and Southland.org for all the latest.
