CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- For a second straight day at Whataburger Field, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi bats were stymied by left-handed pitching as Houston's John King went the distance to lift the Cougars to a 4-2 victory.
The Islanders (1-6) were held to just six hits on the day until the ninth inning when the Blue and Green used a pair of doubles to score a run and bring the tying marker to the plate.
Nkosi Djehuti-Mes capped a 2-for-4 day with a double to left in the ninth and later scored on
Brian Deaver's RBI-double to right field, but the Islanders rally once again fell short in the final frame.
Prior to the ninth, the lone run to cross the plate came on a pair of infield singles as Deaver scored on
Cullen Jozwiak's high chopper into the middle of the infield.
Houston starter John King (1-0) was dominant from start to finish, allowing just nine Islanders to reach. In the process, he fanned seven and recorded 19 groundouts. The only out recorded in the air came when King snagged a comebacker off the bat of
Dalton Stark to end the eighth.
No. 25 Houston (5-2) took the lead for good in the fourth as a single from Jared Triolo and a double by Tyler Bielamowicz set the table for the Cougars. Landon Etzel followed with an RBI groundout to drive in his second run of the day. An inning later, Houston would plate two more on a pair of walks and two singles.
Cole Carter (0-2) made his first start as an Islander, working into the fifth inning and allowing three runs. Carter surrendered four hits and walked a pair in taking the loss.
David Worrell worked four innings in relief, giving up a single run and striking out three while
Devin Skapura worked a scoreless ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
"The takeaway is we're not a top 25 team," said head coach
Scott Malone. "Houston's ranked in the top 25, Missouri is about to be when it comes out on Monday. Can we play and compete with them? Sure, but I think we were just a little short in every area. We were short on the mound and I think our pitchers would be the first to tell you that wasn't our best week.
"We have a club I think can hit," continued Malone," and you saw what happened when back-to-back lefties shut us down. Those are talented kids and we ran into a buzzsaw playing three games against what I think are about to be top-25 programs."
IMPACT INNINGS
TOP 5
>> A leadoff walk ended
Cole Carter's start for the Islanders as
David Worrell entered in relief.
>> Another walk and a pair of singles led to two runs for the Cougars, extending the lead to 4-1.
BOTTOM 7
>> An error and a single put two men aboard with no outs to give the Islanders their biggest threat of the game.
>> Houston starter John King pounced off the mound to field a squeeze bunt off the bat of
Lukas Hermanson and flipped the ball to the plate straight out of his glove to cut down
Jackson Owens.
>> The Islanders would not score in the inning.
BOTTOM 9
>> Djehuti-Mes doubled and scored on Deaver's double a batter later to close the gap to 4-2.
>> King finished off his complete game with a strikeout of
Itchy Burts.
TUESDAY TUSSLE
The Islanders return to Chapman Field for a midweek contest against UTSA. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on the Island.
