ARLINGTON, Texas – In a grueling day which saw 20 innings of baseball, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earned a split of the doubleheader with UT Arlington, taking game one 8-6 in 11 innings before falling 7-1 in the nightcap.
Zacarias Hardy delivered a 2-out, 2-run double in the top of the 11th to propel the Islanders (5-6) to victory in the opening game of the twin bill. After UTA (7-5) intentionally walked Zack Gibson, Hardy made the Mavericks pay with the game-winning hit to left center.
In the back end of the doubleheader, the Islanders missed a pair of late chances with the score sitting at 3-0 before the Mavericks busted the game open with a 4-run eighth inning. The Blue and Green put a runner on third with one out in the seventh, then loaded the bases with one down in the eighth but could not find the big hit either inning.
GAME ONE: Islanders 8 – UT Arlington 6 – 11 Innings
After digging an early hole, the Islanders used a big fifth inning to flip the game in favor of the Blue and Green.
UTA scored a pair of runs in the second inning, the first earned runs surrendered by Chris Falwell this season. A walk opened the inning in auspicious fashion and the Mavericks plated their two runs on back-to-back, 2-out singles.
Falwell would settle in, finishing his outing after five innings allowing a total of three runs on eight hits, while striking out eight. The southpaw exited the game in line for the win thanks to a 5-run fifth, but Falwell ended the day still searching for his first win on the Island.
The Blue and Green turned a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth as Cullen Jozwiak reached third on a dropped fly ball in the left-center field gap. The Islanders cut the lead to 2-1 as the next man at the plate, Brandon Guilford, scored Jozwiak on a ground out to second.
Two batters later, Casey Thomas laced his second triple of the season down the right field line, scoring Lukas Hermanson, who reached on an error.
The rest of the damage would come with two outs. Zack Gibson stood in and singled to center, scoring Thomas to give the Islanders their first lead of the day. Hardy followed with a double to put men at second and third for senior Justin Perales. The veteran drove both in with a single to right center as part of his 3-for-6 game at the plate.
"We used the big inning to get the lead but let it slip away in the ninth," said head coach Scott Malone. "We are still learning how to win and have to get better at the little things."
UTA battled back, scoring in the bottom half of the fifth and then pulling within one with a run in the seventh. After the Islanders scored in the ninth to make it a 6-4 ball game head to the bottom half.
An error to open the inning cracked the door for UTA to find a way back into the game and that's exactly what the Mavericks did. UTA scored a pair of unearned runs in the inning to send the Islanders into their first extra-inning game of the season.
Nolan Holland, who was hit for the two unearned in the ninth, danced out of a 10th inning jam to strand runners at the corners with just one out.
The top of the 11th saw pinch hitter Harrison Hill lead off with his first collegiate hit, a single, before Dylan Hutcheson took over to run the bases. Thomas advanced Hutcheson to second on a sac bunt to set the table for the 2-3-4 hitters to drive in the go-ahead run. After a fly out, UTA elected to intentionally walk Gibson to create a right-on-right matchup with Hardy.
Hardy, who finished the game 2-for-6, rose to the occasion crushing the first pitch of the at-bat into left center and scoring both Hutcheson and Gibson.
"We were able to slow the game down late and we really excelled," said Malone. "Holland getting out of a bases loaded jam, Harrison Hill getting his first college hit to start the rally and the Hardy comes up with the big 2-RBI double after the intentional walk to Gibson."
Chris Cooper retired the final two Mavericks in the bottom half to pick up his first career save.
QUICK HITS
• Five Islanders had multi-hit games as Anderson, Gibson, Hardy and Jozwiak had two each while Perales had three.
• Gibson extended his hitting streak to seven games.
GAME TWO: Islanders 1 – UT Arlington 7
The Islanders once again dug an early hole as UT Arlington score single runs in the first and second innings of the nightcap. Freshman David Worrell battled for 5 2/3 innings to keep the Islanders in the game allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out five.
"Falwell and Worrell we both average today and neither had their best stuff," said Malone. "But, to their credit, they both kept us in the game."
While Worrell was battling to keep the UT Arlington lead from growing, the Islanders could not get anything going offensively. Maverick starter Kadon Simmons held the Islanders to just a single hit through the first six innings.
Worrell's fight coupled with a 1 1/3 inning outing from Aaron Hernandez, who worked both games today, gave the Islanders a chance to make noise late in the game.
The Islanders got a runner to third with just one out in the seventh, but a line out and ground out helped Simmons out of the jam. An inning later, the Blue and Green loaded the bases with just a single out. Simmons stepped up and slammed the door with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and his day.
"In game two, UTA's defense was on display," said Malone. "They never let us start a rally until the 7th inning. Our 7-8-9 hitters loaded the bases for Anderson and Thomas, but their pitcher stepped up with the two biggest strikeouts of the day."
The missed opportunity seemed to swing all the momentum to UTA as the Mavericks turned around and hung a 4-run eighth on the board. The big frame all but sealed the win as the Islanders managed to get a run across in the ninth to avoid the shutout but fell 7-1.
GOING FOR THE SPLIT
The Islanders will return to Clay Gould Ballpark for the series finale tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. as the Blue and Green looks for a split of the four-game series.
