HOUSTON – Freshman Aaron Hernandez duplicated and perhaps even bested his mastery at Texas with a dominant one-hit shutdown of Houston Baptist to lead Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a series clinching, 2-1 win Sunday afternoon at Husky Field.
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Storms blew in during the sixth inning, officially reverting the game to a five-inning contest. The Islanders (18-32, 7-20) led 3-1 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when lightning struck inside the eight-mile radius.
The rookie Hernandez flashed brilliance from the get-go. The right-hander retired HBU (24-25, 12-15) in order for the first four innings, including striking out the side in the second. Hernandez and the Islanders carried the no-hit bid into the fifth before Zane Otten chopped an infield single to third. It looked as if Hernandez had caught Otten looking at a 1-2 slider, but it was ruled a ball.
No matter, Hernandez finished the game with five innings, allowing just the one unearned run on one hit. The rookie fanned six Huskies to pick up his fourth win.
"Hernandez was outstanding in a spot start," said head coach Scott Malone. "He is a huge talent and gave us a great start. I thought Casey Thomas and Zack Gibson gave us some big at-bats too. We played with great energy and took a weekend series from a good team."
The Islanders gave Hernandez all the run support he would need in the top of the fourth, scoring twice on a pair of hits. Dawson Yates, occupying the leadoff spot in the order, roped a single to left field to open the inning. Two batters later, Zack Gibson crushed his Southland-leading seventh triple of the season down the right field line, scoring Yates from first.
Casey Thomas, hitting in the cleanup spot for the first time this season, added the second marker with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Huskies plated their only run in the bottom of the fifth. A 2-out walk and the infield single from Otten set the table. A slider in the dirt from Hernandez was blocked up by Lukas Hermanson behind the plate and Otten was caught dead to rights off first, but Hermanson's throw sailed down the right field line allowing Brandon Brintz to score from second.
The Islanders had tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to 3-1 and turned a double play in the bottom of the inning before lightning struck. The game sat delayed for over two hours before being officially called.
With Sunday's victory, the Islanders clinched the series over the Huskies.
THE FINAL WEEK
The Islanders will finish off their 2016 slate with a four-game week, beginning with a trip to UTRGV on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue and Green will then return to Chapman Field for the final series, beginning Thursday with Incarnate Word.
