CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - After falling behind by three runs on two separate occasions, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi nearly pulled off a ninth inning comeback this Friday evening, in a 6-5 loss to visiting Utah Valley. The Islanders grabbed three of their five runs on solo shots from
Thomas Jeffries IV,
Harrison DiNicola and
Drake Osborn, as the Blue and Green were unable to tally their seventh consecutive victory.
Scoring during the first inning in six of their seven wins this season, the tables were turned on the Islanders when UVU grabbed a three-run lead in the opening frame. The Wolverines recorded four hits in the term to put Corpus Christi behind the eight-ball early, as the home team committed just their fifth error of the season to start the night.
With both teams accruing just four hits over the next five innings, the two sides remained frozen at 3-0 before the bottom half of the sixth. After watching teammate
Luke Marbach get robbed of a home run at the start of the frame, Dinicola succeeded the designated hitter with his third dinger of the season, off a solo fly ball to right. Following in kind, Jeffries would hit a tater of his own two at bats later, rocketing a ball to right that would clear the fence and bring the Islanders within one.
Not to be left out, catcher
Drake Osborn tallied his first long ball of the year during the seventh, tying the affair at three apiece and getting Islander starter
Dustin Lacaze off the hook for the evening's decision.
The Wolverines would have one more big inning before the night was through however, adding another three runs off of four knocks in the top of the ninth. Despite trailing by three, the Islanders refused to surrender the night quietly, loading the bases for recent Southland Conference Player of the Week honoree
Andriud Martinez with two outs. After a wild pitch scored
Jackson Owens from third, Martinez stretched his hitting streak to seven straight games on an RBI single to third base to pull things to 6-5.
With the tying run on third, the Islanders were unable to bring in pinch-runner
John Gaddis to even things at six, but proved that this weekend's four-game series will be heavily fought throughout.
- With three solo shots on the night, Friday's game against UVU marks the first time the Islanders have gone deep three times since matching with Sam Houston State in the 2015 Kleberg Bank College Classic (2/22/15)
- Dinicola has already accumulated seven extra base hits on the year, after recording six total during his first two years on the Island. He currently leads Coach Malone's side with three homers, 10 RBI and a .800 slugging average
- Osborn and Martinez both hold seven-game hitting streaks, averaging .370 and .375 respectively over that stretch
- Osborn and Jeffries' homers are both their first in an Islander uniform
- The Islander pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts on the night, and while he earned the loss, Cole Carter sat down six of the 14 batters he faced on strikes while surrendering just two hits over 3.1 innings of work
COMING UP NEXT
The Blue and Green continue their four-game series against Utah Valley with a doubleheader starting Saturday at 1 PM. Junior righty
Aaron Hernandez is expected to get the start on the mound for Corpus Christi during Game 1, while transfer
Tate Gillespie is scheduled to get his second start of the year in Game 2.
The Islanders' contests against Utah Valley can be followed via the live stream provided by the Islander Digital Network, powered by AEP Texas.
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- Go Islanders -
