SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Baseball team scored the second most runs in school history on Friday night, picking up a 23-7 run-rule win over Texas State in seven innings. The team was paced by a perfect 6-for-6 night and eight RBI by Jonathan Gonzales, tying the school record for hits in a game during the series opener. It was also the most runs of the Scott Malone era. Game two of the weekend series is set for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday afternoon.
The Islanders (10-7) started out blazing, scoring five runs in the top of the first and never looking back. Trevor Foss (3-2) did enough to earn the win, pitching 5.0 innings while giving up six runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three batters. Texas State (5-13) fell behind early and could not recover, with Taylor Black (1-3) taking the loss for the Bobcats.
The scoring started with five runs in the first for the Islanders and they scored in all but the third inning, plating at least three runs in each inning they scored.
Cody Stephens started the run in the first by reaching on an error, and moved to second on a Brad Porras single to left. Eric Weiss singled through the left side for the first run of the game as Stephens came around to score for the 1-0 lead. Gonzales followed with a double to right field that plated the first two runs of his night for a 3-0 advantage. After a Brad Lamberti walk put a pair of runners on, Dominic Lopez hit a two-RBI double to left center for the 5-0 lead.
Gonzales added two more RBI and another hit in the top of the second with a two-RBI double to left center as the team took a 9-0 lead.
Texas State scored a run in the bottom of the third, two in the bottom of the fourth, three in the bottom of the fifth and one in the bottom of the seventh, but the Islanders added four in the fourth and fifth as well as three in the sixth and seventh to outpace the Bobcats by a 23-7 final.
Gonzales added one RBI each in the fifth and sixth and two in the seventh for his eight RBI night. He started the game with a pair of doubles and then laced four straight singles to finish it off.
Franco Pace came on to pitch a perfect sixth, going 1.0 innings with no runs, no hits and one strikeout, while Tim Beard saw the first action of his season. Beard went the final inning, giving up one run on two hits and one walk while striking out two to close out the scoring.
In addition to Gonzales, several other Islanders made big contributions to the offense. Lamberti hit his second home run of the year in the fifth, taking a pitch over the left center field wall for a three-run home run. In all, Lamberti had two hits and totaled four RBI on the night. Lopez and Zach Taylor each had a pair of RBI, while Weiss added one. Lee, Porras, Weiss, Lamberti and Lopez each had two hits, while Stafford Brantley and Taylor had one hit apiece in the game.
Live stats for the game tomorrow can be found by visiting www.GoIslanders.com. Audio and video will be available through www.TXStateBobcats.com.
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