NEW ORLEANS -- Saturday belonged to the long ball as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans hit a combined six home runs in a doubleheader split.
The Islanders rode a pair of home runs off the bats of Lukas Hermanson and Luke Marbach to take the nightcap 8-4, while New Orleans held off the Blue and Green in 10 innings to open the day.
In a wild affair featuring four home runs, the Islanders responded to two UNO blasts with two of their own to key a 7-run eighth inning, but the Privateers recovered for a 10-9 win in 10 innings.
Lukas Hermanson and Jackson Owens homered as part of the massive eighth, but it was not enough as a sacrifice fly in the ninth tied the game and a walk-off walk in the 10th sent UNO to victory.
The Blue and Green struck first in the opener as Luke Marbach drew a one-out walk before back-to-back singles loaded the bases. Marbach crossed the plate on Itchy Burts' RBI-fielder's choice for the early 1-0 advantage.
The lead was short-lived however as UNO answered with two runs in the bottom half. The Privateers were the benefactors of a misplayed fly ball and a pop-up lost in the sun to set up the inning. One run crossed on the pop-up which fell at second base while an error extended the frame and allowed another to score before a 7-5-2 putout at the plate ended UNO's inning.
The Islanders would level in the fourth as Dalton Stark singled to start the inning and scored on Dawson Yates' groundout to second. Marbach also laced a double down the left field to move Stark to third.
An inning later, New Orleans belted a pair of home runs, one a two-run shot and the other of the three-run variety to score six times and take a commanding 8-2 lead.
Even then, the Islanders had a punch left as the Blue and Green scored seven times in its half of the eighth to take a one-run lead. Hermanson and Owens launched two and three-run shots, respectively to key the inning. Corpus Christi also capitalized on a pair of New Orleans errors in the frame.
It was the Privateers though who would strike the final blow, tying the game on a sac fly in the ninth before a walk-off walk handed UNO the victory in the 10th.
Nolan Holland (0-3) took the loss, working 3 1/3 innings in relief. Holland allowed a pair of runs on eight hits and surrendered the game-winning walk on a 3-2 count with one out in the 10th.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi opened the nightcap with a bang as the Islanders scored five times in the top of the first inning. The Islanders started the game with four straight singles to plate a run and kick off the big inning.
Luke Marbach opened the scoring with his RBI-single before the Islanders tacked on two more with a groundout and sacrifice fly.
Lukas Hermanson would pick up an RBI and plate two runs when he beat out an RBI-single which included a throwing error to round out the scoring in the inning.
After New Orleans pulled within one in the fourth, Marbach's big day continued as he launched his first career home run in the fifth. The freshman jumped a 2-1 fastball and roped a no-doubter down the left field line. The rookie finished 3-for-5 with the home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
On the mound,
Chad Romere was stellar in relief for the Islanders. The right-hander went 3 2/3 innings, holding the Privateers to just one hit in that span. Romere struck out five batters and did not allow a run to earn the win in the finale.
While Romere was dealing on the bump, the Islander bats cranked out a dozen hits to produce eight runs.
Dalton Stark went 4-for-5 with a triple and a pair of runs scored.
Lukas Hermanson ended the night 2-for-4 with his second home run of the day and a pair of RBI in the victory.
David Worrell came on for the final five outs of the game to earn the save. It was the second save of the season for the right-handed sophomore who struck out a pair and did not allow a baserunner in the outing.
The Islanders head to UTSA Tuesday for a midweek bout with the roadrunners before returning to Chapman Field to face Southeastern Louisiana over the weekend.
