CORPUS CHRISTI - Kyle Danford played hero at as he delivered a walk off single to give the
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team a 5-4 victory over Abilene Christian Friday night at Chapman Field. With the win, the Islanders improve to 15-15 and 5-8 in Southland Conference play.
Cody Clarke came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and delivered one of the biggest hits of the night by the bottom half of the Islanders batting order as he flared a ball to the right field wall for a standup double to lead off the frame. It was the first hit for the junior third baseman in four plate appearances. ACU intentionally walked Jordan Lee before Casey Thomas recorded one of his three sacrifices of the night to move the runners up.
"It's not just Cody Clarke, it's everybody," said head coach Scott Malone. "We've just been trying to have good at bats and work on our approach. We've been working on hitting the ball to the opposite field and that's how we drew it up and it ended up being a big-time at bat from our nine-hole guy."
The Wildcats (8-22, 6-7 SLC) loaded the bases after intentionally walking left-hander Tyler Ware to set up the double play. It was the second walk of the night that Ware had earned as he added on to his team-high 25 on the year. That was when Danford came to the plate, hitless in his previous four plate appearances. On a first pitch of the at bat, the senior delivered the game winning run as he sliced a ball through the left side of the infield to give the Islanders their first walk-off win of the year.
Jordan Lee set the tone for the Islanders in the first at bat of the game as he trucked out a triple and scored on the next at bat as Thomas drove a ball deep to left field for the RBI sacrifice fly.
"He really set the tone for us and it gave us a lot of confidence," Malone said of Lee. "He get the leadoff triple, he scores and we're on top and it lets the guys relax and breathe."
ACU would answer with two runs of their own in the third inning as Aaron Draper picked up a double and Colton Hall sent a ball down the right field line for a triple, scoring Draper. Hall would score later in the inning as a runner reached on a throwing error.
The teams would trade runs in the fifth and the Islanders would take a 4-3. Lee, who was a double away from the cycle delivered the tying run with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at three apiece. It marked the second home run of the year for the senior and the seventh of his career. Ware then drew one of his walks and stole second before Zacarias Hardy showed off his wheels and reeled off a triple, delivering the go-ahead run.
Senior Matt Danton went six complete innings for the Islanders and left with the lead as the team went to its bullpen to close out the Wildcats. The bullpen would do its job until the ninth inning when ACU loaded the bases and scored the tying run. A walk followed by a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position. Nolan Holland would try to work the inside of the plate and on a 0-2 pitch, clipped Tyler Eager to load the bases. With the bases loaded, pinch hitter Heath Beasley would tie the game on a sacrifice bunt.
The teams will continue action Saturday at 3 p.m. as Trevor Belicek will take the mound for the Islanders. Belicek is second in the nation with 13.51 strikeouts per game and seventh in the country with 68 strikeouts.
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