CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A three-run fourth and a pair of insurance runs down the stretch carried Sam Houston State past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5-3 in an error-filled finale Sunday afternoon at Chapman Field.
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After both starting pitchers rolled through the first three innings, the Bearkats (31-18, 19-5) capitalized on a pair of Islander errors to score three times in the top of the fourth. A four-pitch walk started the inning in auspicious terms before Chris Falwell (2-5) bobbled a sacrifice bunt attempt to allow two men aboard. A single to center scored a run and another came home as the ball went under the glove of Zack Gibson in centerfield.
The Islanders (16-31, 5-19) clawed right back as it was the Bearkats' turn to make a costly mistake. A leadoff single from Brian Deaver was followed by a ground ball to third off the bat of Justin Perales. The Islander reached on the play as Andrew Fregia saw a high hop bounce off his glove.
A single from Brett Burner, his first of a 4-for-4 day, loaded the bases with no outs as the Blue and Green tried to respond right back. After a pop-up for the first out, Lukas Hermanson chopped a ground ball up the middle, which saw Burner forced out on the play. The Bearkats' attempted turn of a double play was late and the throw to first went through the glove allowing two runs to score.
With either side committing a pair of errors, the game sat at 3-2 with just a single earned run crossing the plate.
Falwell was chased from the game in the top of the fifth after issuing another leadoff walk. The junior took the loss with a line of four innings with three runs, just one earned, on four hits.
The Bearkats extended the lead back out in the sixth as Fregia atoned for his error with a solo home run to lead off the frame. The blast came off reliever Nolan Holland, who worked the final five innings for the Islanders.
Again, the Islanders had an answer as the Blue and Green struck in the bottom of the seventh. Casey Thomas roped his sixth triple of the season to spark the inning before Dawson Yates drove him home with a single to left. Both Thomas and Yates finished with two hits on the day.
With the game back at one run at 4-3, the Bearkats finished off the scoring with a pair of singles in the top of the eighth. A wild pitch and a ground out put the insurance run on third with two outs before Robie Rojas drilled a single into center to once again push the lead to two. The run swept all of the momentum in favor of the Bearkats who would finish off the game behind closer Greg Belton.
The Blue and Green managed to put the tying run on base in the ninth on a single and two outs, but Belton fanned Deaver to end the game and send the Bearkats to their seventh consecutive Southland series win.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Islanders will not play a midweek game for the first time this season as the Blue and Green travel to Houston Baptist next weekend for the final road trip of the year.
