CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The streaking Sam Houston State Bearkats rolled into Chapman Field and continued their string of strong play, taking Friday night's opener 6-1 over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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The Islanders (15-30, 4-18) opened the door with a error to start the third and the Bearkats struck for four to break open the game. The lead was more than enough for Sam Houston State starter Sam Odom who polished off his third complete game of the year to move to 7-0.
"We started that inning off with a misplayed fly ball and it put us at a crossroads," said head coach Scott Malone. "Were we going to shut that inning down or let it get away from us. We've got Cooper on the mound on a Friday night and no one's going to feel sorry for you. We needed to bear down and get out of the inning, but we couldn't.
"Give Sam Houston State credit," Malone continued. "We cracked the door and they came rushing through. That's what a good team does. That's what a 17-4 team in the conference does."
The game breaking third inning opened with a fly ball to right that popped off the glove of Nick Anderson, allowing Andrew Fregia to reach. Sam Houston (30-17, 18-4) capitalized immediately, with back-to-back doubles to take a 2-0 lead. A bunt single and another double, this time of the 2-run variety off the bat of Robie Rojas jumped the advantage to 4-0.
The Islanders could never recover. With chances to chip away in the middle innings, the big hit continued to elude the Blue and Green all season long.
Two singles from Dawson Yates and Zack Gibson put runners at the corners with one out in the fourth, but Odom shut down the frame with a 6-3 double play. The next inning, Scott Balfantz and Brett Burner went back-to-back with singles to reach the corners before Odom induced a threat-ending fly ball.
The Bearkats added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh to extend the lead to 6-0. Chris Cooper (1-3) took the loss in his sixth start of the season. The right-hander fanned a career-high seven batters, lasting six innings while allowing five runs, four of which were earned.
Austin Cornish tossed the final three innings for the Islanders and also set a new high-water mark for strikeouts with four on the night. Cornish surrendered his first earned run of the year on two hits.
The bottom of the seventh saw the Islanders finally break through, but it was too little, too late. Anderson doubled down the left field line to open the inning before moving to third on a single from Balfantz. Burner picked up the RBI on a ground ball to short, reaching when the throw was off line. That would be all the Islanders could muster as a strikeout and pop-up finished off the inning.
On the hill for the Bearkats, Odom controlled the game by scattering eight hits. The right-hander went the distance for the third time this season and struck out six while not issuing a walk in the win.
SATURDAY NIGHT BASEBALL
The Islanders and Bearkats will continue the series with a rare Saturday night game at Chapman Field. The two will square off at 6 p.m. in game two of the series.
