Long Ball Launches Islanders to 10-4 Win

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used the long ball, specifically a pair of three-run home runs, to score 10 unanswered runs for a 10-4 upset of Southland-leader McNeese on Saturday afternoon.
 
For a second consecutive day against the Southland's best squad, junior Dalton Stark crushed a home run over the right field wall. The two long balls are the first of the year for the Islander, as Saturday's shot gave the Blue and Green life after a 4-0 start for McNeese.
 
Four innings later, Dawson Yates would launch the Islanders' second three-run blast of the day, giving Corpus Christi a 6-4 lead. Yates' homer was the second of the year for the senior. It proved the difference maker as the Islanders leveled the series with McNeese.
 
The Cowboys got off to a quick start, capitalizing on four free passes in the first two innings to open a 4-0 lead. Islander starter Chad Romere was chased from the game in the second, giving way to Devin Skapura whose stellar work would change the game.
 
Skapura (2-4) entered with no outs in the second and a runner on board. While the inherited man scored, the senior limited the damage.
 
A half inning later, Stark ignited the Islanders with his three-run moonshot, a no-doubter to right, cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the blink of an eye. From there, the middle innings were all about the work of Skapura on the hill as he tossed six scoreless frames to keep the Blue and Green within striking distance.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Islanders rewarded Skapura's stellar work with four runs to take the lead. Lukas Hermanson drew a leadoff walk before Brian Deaver singled to put two aboard with no outs for Corpus Christi. Deaver and pinch-runner Itchy Burts came across on Yates' blast as the Islanders stunned McNeese.
 
The inning did not stop with Yates' three-run homer as the Islanders tacked on another with Brett Burner's RBI-double to score Nick Anderson.
 
With a three-run lead heading into the final frame, the Islanders iced the victory with a three-spot in the top of the ninth. RBI singles from Burner and Jackson Owens plated the first two runs while Luke Marbach lifted a sac fly to give the Islanders the 10-4 advantage.
 
Chris Cooper, who took over on the mound in the eighth, worked two scoreless innings to earn his fifth save of the season. Cooper worked around a single in either frame to close the door.
 
PLATE PRODUCTION
>> Yates finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
>> Burner and Owens also went 3-for-5 with Burner plating a pair of runs and Owens one.   
>> Seven different Islanders recorded base hits in Saturday's victory.
 
RUBBER GAME
 
The Islanders will look for the series victory against the Cowboys in a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.