CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A furious ninth-inning rally came up 180 feet short as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi left the tying run at second base in a 4-3 loss to UCF Friday night in the first day of the Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field.
After being stumped for the better part of seven innings by UCF (6-0) starter Cre Finfrock (1-0, 3.00 ERA), the Islanders (3-2) roughed up the back end of the bullpen with a two-out onslaught to plate two runs and cut the lead to 4-3.
Zack Gibson, who finished the night 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, started the inning off with a frozen rope to center. After a pair of quick outs, Brian Deaver drove Gibson home with a single back up the middle, before coming around to score on a Justin Perales double to right field.
That forced UCF to turn to Harrison Hukari out of the bullpen for the final out. Hukari induced a ground ball off the bat of pinch hitter Brandon Guilford to end the game and stop the Islander rally just short.
"I thought we had a nice crowd in a big venue and you want to play well and win," said head coach Scott Malone. "We played okay and we didn't win, so it's frustrating. Guys are leaving the park frustrated tonight and now you're going to get Michigan State tomorrow so it doesn't get any easier."
GIBSON RAKING
The Islander center fielder had quite the day in the opening night of the Kleberg Bank College Classic and it started with a big bang. Gibson jumped the first pitch he saw, a fastball from Finfrock and crushed it onto the pool deck in right field at Whataburger Field.
Gibson, bookended the night with base knocks, starting the ninth-inning rally with a single for his second hit of the evening. Even the one out Gibson made was well-hit, a drive to center field which was tracked down by Knights outfielder Luke Hamblin.
FOURTH INNING FLIP
With the early lead in hand, senior starter Dalton D'Spain (0-2, 11.81 ERA) was rolling in the early going. D'Spain faced just two over the minimum in the first three innings, but the fourth brought about the momentum-changing frame.
UCF struck four times in the fourth, doing the entirety of its damage for the night, but it would prove enough. Back-to-back walks to open the inning proved costly as a passed ball advanced the runners to second and third. Two pitches later, UCF shortstop Brennan Bozeman laced a two-RBI single to center, giving UCF the lead.
A high fly ball to center off the bat of seven-hole Eugene Vasquez was mishandled to extend the inning, which allowed a pair of Knights to score in unearned fashion to make the lead 4-1.
"That inning was kind of the downfall of Dalton," said Malone. "He was playing a good game of catch tonight and it felt like things were going his way. Then you go walk, walk, [passed ball] and then the error in the outfield, I think that's the third outfield error in five games, and it's hard to win when you make errors out there."
From there, Finfrock cruised on the mound, lasting seven innings while striking out 10. The right-hander retired 20 of the final 22 Islanders he faced to pick up the win.
"As good as Finfrock was, and he was outstanding, when you get him early, you gain some confidence," said Malone. "You start thinking things are going to go your way tonight and then it gets frustrating when he settled in and gets good. I thought we had a chance late when CT gets on and moved to third with one-out. If we score that run right there, the eighth inning is different, the ninth inning is different."
BULLPEN HOLDS SERVE
With UCF out in front, the Islander bullpen stepped up as three pitchers combined to hold UCF to just one hit over the final 5 1/3 innings.
Redshirt sophomore Chris Cooper stepped in during the fourth and put the fire out with a fly out. Cooper went on to toss 2 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball while striking out one and issuing no walks.
Behind Cooper, freshman Caleb Hanks made his first appearance for the Blue and Green. The rookie allowed a single then issued a walk to open his night, but retired the next six batters he faced to finish with a strong two frames of shutout ball. Hanks fanned three of the eight Knights he faced.
"Cooper is in his third year in our program and it's time to grow up and be a guy," said Malone. "He is slowly, but surely, growing up and becoming a guy. I think he's going to get a lot of big innings for us this year and did a great job tonight. Then, with Hanks, when you throw a freshman out there, you never know what you're going to get when you open up the box. He did a nice job tonight, especially after stumping his toe a bit out of the gate."
Finally, senior Garrett Harris worked a scoreless ninth to bounce back from a pair of rocky outings to open the season. Harris allowed one runner on a hit-by-pitch but stranded him at first.
"It was nice to see Garrett get back on the right side of a zero," said Malone. "Those guys did their job. They shut them down and gave us a chance to get back in it tonight."
QUICK HITS
• Left fielder Zacarias Hardy extended his season-long hit streak to five games with a single in the first.
• Brian Deaver's ninth-inning RBI was the first of his Islander career.
• Senior Justin Perales picked up his first hit and RBI of the season with his run-scoring double in the ninth.
UP NEXT
The Islanders return to Whataburger Field Saturday to face undefeated Michigan State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in the second day of the Kleberg Bank College Classic.
