CORPUS CHRISTI – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi softball team swept Texas A&M - International today in a doubleheader at Chapman Field. The Islanders secured a 5-1 victory to open the day before shutting out the Dustdevils (7-11) 2-0 in the second game. A&M - Corpus Christi outhit the Dustdevils 11-8 and outscored them 7-1 to earn their first pair of wins in the Coastal Bend.
Junior Cosette Hernandez hit .667 to power the Islanders' (4-12-1) bats in the two games combined. She led the team with four hits, including her first triple of the season. Senior Mickayla Cochran hit .500 and chipped in a triple and RBI, while Lindsey Lyles cranked her eighth career home run over the left field wall.
In the Islanders' circle sophomore Liz Carter (3-7) and junior Stephanie Flores (1-5) each earned a win and struck out a total of 13 Dustdevils in the two games. Flores registered her first shutout victory as an Islander and earned the first one for the Islanders this season.
The Islanders will return to action when they open Southland Conference play on the road at Central Arkansas on March 6-7.
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GAME 1: TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI 5, TEXAS A&M - INTERNATIONAL 1
After a scoreless opening frame, the Islanders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second after recording a pair of hits. With two outs, junior Alyson Bressie, in her first career start at second base, stepped to the plate and ripped her first double of the season to left center to score Lyles and Aspen Auger. Lyles nailed the Islanders' first hit of the game with a single to center field and Auger reached on a hit by pitch.
The Islanders kept the momentum going as they tacked on a run in the bottom of the third and fifth frames before allowing the Dustdevils to get on the board. In the third, freshman Savannah Sandoval led off the frame with a hit by pitch and followed with a stolen base. Hernandez then followed with a single through the left side to advance Sandoval to third. With Dani Tefft at the plate, Sandoval stole home for her fourth-career stolen base, and Hernandez advanced to second on the throw before swiping third. The Dustdevils then retired the next three Islanders.
A&M - Corpus Christi then padded its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth after Hernandez blasted a two-out triple to left center and scored on a RBI single by Tefft to third base. It marked Hernandez first triple of the season.
The Dustdevils then answered with a run in the top of the sixth after Brenda Parnin scored on a RBI double down the left field line by Mariena Gallardo with one out. Parnin led off the frame with a double to center field. The Islanders' defense pulled through as the Islanders escaped with Dustdevils on the corners.
The Islanders added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after Lyles sent her fourth home run of the season over the left field wall with two outs.
Hernandez and Lyles both went 2-for-3 to propel the Islanders' bats while Tefft and Bressie each chipped in one hit apiece.
Carter secured her third win of the season in the Islanders' circle. She allowed six hits, one run and one walk while striking out six in seven innings.
Delainy Thompson (2-5) suffered the loss for the Dustdevils. She allowed six hits and five runs while striking out five in six innings.
GAME 2: TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI 2, TEXAS A&M - INTERNATIONAL 0
Flores and the Islanders' defense held the Dustdevils off the board for their first shutout of the season, and held them out of the hit column until the top of the sixth en route to their fourth win of the season.
The Islanders built an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Hernandez scored on a RBI walk by Bressie with two outs. Hernandez led off the frame with a bunt single and advanced to second after Tefft reached on a fielding error by the Dustdevils. Cochran then hit a bunt single to load the bases. After a strikeout and pop fly, Bressie reached on a RBI walk as Hernandez came across home plate. Brianne Trost, in her second career start at shortstop, hit a fly out to left field to cap the frame.
The Islanders escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the fifth after a pair of walks and an Islanders' fielding error, but a pop fly to Flores pulled the Islanders out.
A&M - Corpus Christi answered with another run in the bottom of the fifth on two hits and one error by TAMIU. With one out, Hernandez drilled a single through the right side before being called out at second on a fielder's choice by Tefft. After a throwing error by the Dustdevils advanced Tefft to second, Cochran drove in Tefft with a RBI triple to right field. It marked Cochran's fourth-career triple and first one this season.
Flores didn't allow a hit until the top of the sixth with two outs as Brandi Giles hit a single to center field. She settled in then and retired the next Dustdevil to escape the frame. TAMIU tacked on another hit in the top of the seventh with two outs as Parnin hit a single through the right side. However, Cochran snagged a fly out in center field to clinch the win for the Islanders.
Cochran went a perfect 3-for-3 in the game while Hernandez hit 2-for-3 for the Islanders' bats as they outhit the Dustdevils, 5-2.
Flores earned her first win in the Islanders' circle. She allowed just two hits while walking six and striking out seven in seven innings.
Giles (0-1) registered the loss for TAMIU. She allowed five hits, two runs, just one of them earned, while walking one and striking out four in six innings.
