CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Scattering just seven hits Saturday night, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior Devin Skapura hurled his first career complete game to carry the Islanders to a 2-1 victory over Sam Houston State at Chapman Field.
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The right-hander stymied the Bearkats all night long, outdueling Heath Donica to go the distance for the first time as an Islander. Skapura's complete-game effort was the first since Matt Danton went the distance in a March 14 win over Nicholls a year ago. The junior struck out five, allowing the defense to work behind him and turn three double plays to assist the nine-inning showcase.
Skapura tossed 110 pitches in the dominant outing.
"He wasn't coming out," said head coach Scott Malone of Skapura. "There wasn't a scenario where he leaves the game. He's just a veteran guy that's been through the wars – he's been through the wars with those guys. I think it hit me in the fifth or sixth inning that this might be one of those nights where we have to win 1-0 behind Devin and it turned out to be that night and he was outstanding."
Skapura's spectacular effort meant the Islanders two-run seventh would prove just enough to win the game. After deep at-bats from Zacarias Hardy and Zack Gibson yielded a walk and hit-by-pitch to open the inning, senior Justin Perales laid down a sacrifice bunt, forcing Sam Houston State to make a play. Donica bounced off the mound and tried to force an out at third, but sailed the throw into left field allowing both Hardy and Gibson to score.
"Honestly it was a lot of fun," said Skapura of his masterful outing. "I've always wanted to finish what I started and I've had a couple complete games in summer but haven't had that opportunity here. Fortunately enough, all my stuff was working and I was feeling really good out on the mound. I felt like my composure was really good too. I kept a straight face for the most part and after it was all over I could finally just smile and soak it all in."
Both pitcher's rolled through the early innings as the game reached the seventh inning stretch in just an hour and 20 minutes. Neither side mustered much in the way of scoring opportunities as Donica set down the Islanders in perfect fashion for the first three innings while Skapura escaped a first inning jam before keeping the Bearkats out of scoring position for the next six innings.
Skapura produced 1-2-3 innings in each the second, third, fourth and fifth frames despite three of those including hits. Double plays in the second and fifth erased base hits and Lukas Hermanson caught a Bearkat wandering off first on a ball in the dirt to offset the hit in the third.
"I was just trusting a two-seam fastball," said Skapura. "Honestly, it's one of the first times I've thrown it but it was working tonight. I was getting a lot of ground ball outs and I knew they were free swingers. I knew we were going to play really good defense behind me and ground balls are a specialty so I was just trying to play into that."
The bottom of the seventh proved to be the difference maker. With the heart of the order up, the Islanders produced the only rally they would need, keyed by a walk and hit batsmen to open the frame. Hardy led off, working a 3-2 walk before a 2-2 offering clipped Zack Gibson to put two aboard with no outs.
That's when Perales, who has nine RBI in the past seven games, sacrificed the glory and laid down a sac bunt. The pressure applied, Sam Houston State committed its only error of the game as Donica chucked the ball into left field, allowing both runners to score.
"We worked on defending the bunt all week long because that's what they like to do," said Malone. "Let me say this, Hardy and Gibson, they like to swing. Those guys are on money to swing. They both had seven, eight, nine pitch at bats that turned into a walk and hit-by-pitch against a real good pitcher. That set Perales up to come up, lay a bunt down and apply pressure and they don't field it and it turns into the two runs for us."
The Bearkats clawed out their only run off Skapura in the top of the ninth on a solo shot from Zach Smith. On a different day or in a different park, it might have been a shutout for Skapura as the wind carried the ball over the wall and a leaping effort from Dylan Hutcheson saw the ball pop out of the glove upon contact with the wall.
No matter for Skapura, he's happy with the win.
"Just getting a win, man," said Skapura. "I feel like I've been dying for a win all year. I think my last one came at SFA and that feels months away. It feels good to get momentum back. I talked with the guys about how we can still turn it around. I think this might be a good stepping-stone. We played excellent defense and we chipped away and scored some runs tonight."
SUNDAY RUBBER MATCH
With the win, the Islanders turn Sunday's finale into a rubber match as they look to be the first Southland team to take a series from Sam Houston State since New Orleans took the season opening series from the Bearkats in early March.
The finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday at Chapman Field.
