Islanders Take Lions To Final At Bat

HAMMOND, La. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ace Aaron Hernandez got locked into another low-scoring contest this past Saturday, as hosts Southeastern Louisiana finished game two with a 4-3 walk-off win.

After retiring his first three batters of the afternoon, Hernandez surrendered his only two runs of the day during the second, as the Lions were the first to draw blood for a second straight day. The right hander would be near perfect over his next 4.2 innings pitched however, holding hosts SELU to just a single knock and a pair of bases on balls. 

With Hernandez keeping things tight for the Blue and Green heading into the fifth, it was time for the Islander bats to come alive as the Corpus Christi offense strung together four straight two-out hits to go ahead 3-2. Following a pair of groundouts, center fielder Dalton Stark gave the visitors a base runner with his single to right field, eventually touching home plate in the next at bat on of a Drake Osborn double.

The onslaught continued with a double from Itchy Burts, while an RJ Ruiz single gave the Islanders the go ahead run going to the bottom half of the frame. Hernandez extended his dominant performance over the next two innings, ending his night in the middle of the seventh with just two earned runs against and eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings at the bump.

Trailing by a single run, the Lions tied things up in the bottom of the eighth on a solo shot to left, as a scoreless ninth frame sent the Blue and Green to extras for the second time in 2018.

SELU took advantage of a scoreless inning from Corpus Christi, loading the bases on three walks and a fielder's choice in the 10th. The Lions tallied the walk-off win on a two-out, bases loaded, hit by pitch, to give the Islanders' hosts a 2-0 advantage in the series headed to Sunday.

• The back-end of the order was big for the Islanders on Saturday, with the last four spots in the lineup accounting for five of their squad's seven hits of the day, and all three of their RBI and runs scored
• With his eighth inning double, Jackson Owens has earned three hits against the Lions this weekend, averaging .375 over two contests
• Hernandez' eight Ks give him a team-high of 59 on the year, on the way to tallying his fourth quality start of 2018. He's 
• Burts has collected a knock in each of his last three appearances, and has a hit in all seven of his starts this year. The outfielder is batting .385 when earning a spot in the starting lineup
• Nick Anderson has been plunked 13 times this season after getting hit by a pitch in the sixth. His 10 coming into the weekend were already tied for 33rd most in the country

COMING UP NEXT
The Blue and Green finish their series in Hammond with the first pitch of Sunday's finale scheduled for 1 PM. Corpus Christi will be looking to end the weekend on a high note, heading into a midweek contest with Houston Baptist this approaching Tuesday.

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