CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Facing off with their third power-five opponent of the season, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was unable to pull out a win on Tuesday night, falling to the visiting Texas Longhorns 9-3 at Whataburger Field.
The Horns jumped on the hosting Islanders early in the pairing's lone meeting of 2018, producing three runs on four hits in the opening frame. The Blue and Green responded by loading the bases in the bottom half of the inning, as starting first baseman Harrrison Dinicola tallied his first hit of the night, but were held scoreless with three men left on heading into the second.
Freshman arms
Leonel Perez and
A.G. Ayala held Texas to two runs over the following four innings, with the Longhorns holding onto a 5-0 lead heading into the top of the sixth. Spotting their opponents another four on a grand slam in that next frame, both sides were held to a just a single hit combined over the next three innings, with the Islander bats coming alive in the ninth.
After getting plunked, starting third baseman
Jackson Owens put himself into scoring position with a stolen bag, as the Blue and Green refused to go down quietly against their Big 12 opponents. A
Thomas Jeffries IV walk put a pair of men on, before Owens found the Islanders' first run of the game on
Drake Osborn's RBI-single.
Getting his fifth start of 2018,
Itchy Burts picked up his second hit of the night to score Jeffries, while an
Enrique Sanchez Jr. single scored Osborn from third base. With the bases loaded and the Islanders one swing away from pulling within two runs, the home team ran out of outs on Tuesday, with the final score left at 9-3.
Relievers
Chad Romere,
Jesse Philp and
Will Floyd combined for 3.2 innings of shutout work for Corpus Christi on the night, combining for five of their squad's 10 strikeouts recorded. Starter
Leonel Perez would take the loss against the Horns after giving up three runs in his midweek start, while seven Blue and Green arms took to the hill at Whataburger Field.
- Burts tied his season-high in hits against the Longhorns, registering a pair of singles and an RBI. His batting average has run up from .167 to .346 over the past 30 days
- Facing three batters to close out the night, junior Will Floyd recorded the first strikeout of his career and continued his hitless streak to four straight appearances
- In his fifth start of the season Cam Boudreaux recorded a single and two walks, he's drawn walk in each of his last three appearances
- Romere is on a streak of three straight shutout appearances for the Islanders, after tying a season-high three strikeouts against the Longhorns
COMING UP NEXT
The Blue and Green will get back to Southland Conference play against Southeastern Louisiana, in a three-game series this Friday through Sunday. Corpus Christi took last season's series with the Lions 2-1 at Chapman Field, and is 12-20 against SELU all-time.
The Islanders' upcoming contest against Texas can be followed via the live stream provided by the Islander Digital Network, powered by AEP Texas.
STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Islanders Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersBSB), Instagram (
@islandersbsb) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Baseball).
- Go Islanders -
