CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's offense blew up in the opening four innings of Friday's contest against Nicholls, putting up 11 runs and 13 hits to start their first contest of the 2018 Kleberg Bank College Classic. The Islanders would finish the night with a 12-1 advantage, as starter
Dustin Lacaze went 8.1 innings from the bump for his first win of the year.
Luke Marbach,
Nick Anderson and
Harrison DiNicola would get the line moving at the start of the first, tallying three straight hits in their team's first game at Whataburger Field this year, for a 1-0 lead.
Marbach and company would further stretch the Blue and Green's lead during the second, as shortstop
RJ Ruiz tallied an RBI single in his first start of the year. Marbach plated Ruiz later in the frame after sending a shot over the left field wall, tallying his first homer of the year to give the Islanders a 4-0 lead.
Dinicola picked up his second knock of the night while leading off the bottom of the third, and shot his first triple of 2018 in the fourth, before finishing his night with a three-for-five performance. The Islanders would hang four on the Colonels during the fourth inning to make their advantage rise to 11-0.
Corpus Christi added one final run during the fifth, while Nicholls would finally break the Islanders' developing shutout with a home run in the top of the ninth. The Colonels' homer was the only mark against right-handed starter
Dustin Lacaze, as the redshirt-sophomore did not give up a single earned run in his 8.1 innings of work.
Lacaze struck out a career-high eight batters over the course of the night, sitting down 15 of the first 17 batters he faced on the evening.
A.G. Ayala made his first career-appearance in relief of Lacaze, retiring a pair of batters to close out the night.
- Nine Islanders registered hits against Nicholls, with five of those players providing multi-hit performances
- Nick Anderson's one-for-four night improved his hitting streak to five straight games, gathering a knock in each of the Islanders' contests thus far
- Thomas Jeffries IV set a personal best with four RBI on the night, hitting one single and a double
- After recording their early advantage, the Blue and Green is now 4-0 when scoring in the first inning this season
- Marbach, Dinicola, Andriud Martinez and Jackson Owens each crossed home plate twice, while Enrique Sanchez Jr. picked up his first knock of the season
- The Islanders tallied five extra-base hits on Friday, with three doubles, a triple and a jack
- Corpus Christi's 12 runs and 16 hits are both season-highs in 2018
COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders continue their week at the Kleberg Bank College Classic with a game against UCSB on Saturday at 6 p.m. and a weekend finale against No. 15 Mississippi State on Sunday. Corpus Christi faces off with the Gauchos for the first time in program history, and hold a 1-1 record against the Bulldogs all-time.
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- Go Islanders -
