CORPUS CHRISTI - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team dropped a 4-3 contest to
Northwestern State Friday night at Chapman Field.
The Demons (23-17, 15-6 SLC) used a ninth inning rally to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. NSU was aided in the ninth by a throwing error that allowed runners to move to second and third with no outs. Jacob Dorris entered the game to work out of the jam, but came up just short as Joel Atkinson delivered a pop out to right field that put Northwestern State up for good.
Only one strikeout was recorded in the game, and that came in the bottom of the ninth as Adam Oller shut the door on the Islanders on his way to a complete game. The sophomore out of Conroe, Texas allowed three runs on nine hits.
Senior right-hander Matt Danton tossed seven complete on his way to a no decision. Danton allowed three runs on eight hits.
A&M-Corpus Christi (19-18, 9-10 SLC) put the first run of the night on the board in the third. Lukas Hermanson and Cody Clarke delivered back-to-back hits before senior Tyler Ware drove Hermanson in on a sacrifice fly.
The Demons answered quickly though in the top of the fourth after the leadoff batter was hit-by-pitch. Nick Heath picked up one of his two hits on the day to score CJ Webster from second to tie the game.
Northwestern State would continue its scoring in the fifth on a two-run home run out to right field by Cort Brinson.
The Islanders would tie the game in the seventh inning after Kyle Danford and Zacarias Hardy stung together back-to-back hits to begin the inning. Sophomore second baseman Brett Burner recorded a groundout RBI scoring Danford from third before Justin Perales sacrifice flied out to plate Hardy and tie the game.
Nolan Holland took the loss for the Islanders after allowing the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth to fall to 1-1 on the year.
Danford led the charge offensively for the Islanders with a 3-for-4 day while scoring a run. Hermanson also finished with multiple hits going 2-for-3 on the night.
For updates throughout the season be sure to follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersBSB) and Facebook (Islanders Baseball). Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the Islanders Front Row App at GoIslanders.com/frontrow.
