CONWAY, Ark. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi outhit Central Arkansas 11-10 on Saturday, but were unable to group enough of their knocks together in a 9-4 loss in game two. The Islander defeat sets up a deciding game three on Sunday, as a victory over the Bears would give Corpus Christi back-to-back Southland series wins.
A trio of singles would issue a 1-0 lead for the home team in the first inning, before a two-run homer in the third put UCA ahead by a count of 3-0. Issuing five walks in the third frame alone, the Islanders spotted their opponents five runs heading into the fourth, getting on the scoreboard for the first time in the bottom half of the frame.
A leadoff single from
Enrique Sanchez Jr., accompanied by a pair of knocks from
Drake Osborn and
Dalton Stark loaded the bases for shortstop
Steven Rivera-Chijin, who provided a two-RBI single up the middle. Rivera's second knock of the day pulled his side back within three runs, but the Corpus Christi defense was unable to hold off their hosts, surrendering four more runs on a pair of hits and two errors in the bottom of inning number four.
Recording his third hit of the night in the seventh, Rivera tallied a leadoff single to start the term, with
Itchy Burts and
Jackson Owens following up with a single and a walk respectively, to load the bases. Back-to-back groundouts from
Harrison DiNicola and Sanchez pulled the Islanders back within five, but a lack of offense in the final two innings would result in a 9-4 final in favor of the home side.
Starting right hander
Chad Romere would take his first loss of the season to put his record at 2-1, as the Blue and Green used five different arms to close out game two against the Bears. Taking the mound in the fourth, freshman
Leonel Perez had one of his best relief appearances of the year, giving up two hits and a single walk over 3.2 shutout innings of work.
Will Floyd and
Jesse Philp each made an appearance out of the pen as well, combining for three outs on a total of 20 pitches in the eighth.
- Burts and Dinicola extended their hitting streaks to nine and 10 games respectively, with the former going 2-for-5 on the day
- Rivera's three hits are a new career-high for the freshmen, with all three of his singles coming on the first pitch of his at bats
- The Islanders first four hitters in the lineup were responsible for six of their team's 11 hits, with Sanchez tallying the Blue and Green's lone extra-base hit of the afternoon, on a double in the fifth
- After Friday's and Saturday's contests the Islanders are now 9-20 when committing an error, and 12-3 when playing perfect defense
COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders will look to secure the series win with an 11 AM first pitch scheduled for Sunday's finale. The pair's all-time series record sits at 15-15-2 currently, giving the winner of game three ultimate bragging rights.
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- Go Islanders -
