Postseason Push

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Making the final push for the postseason, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi looks to wrap up its regular season in Abilene this weekend, facing off in a three-game series with the Abilene Christian Wildcats.

The Islanders are fresh off a series sweep of Southland Conference rivals Incarnate Word, beating the Cardinals in three straight, at home at Chapman Field. The Blue and Green have won five of their last six conference contests, in an effort to make a run for this year's SLC tournament in Sugar Land, and now sit just two games behind New Orleans and UIW for the final two seeds.

While the Cardinals move on to face top-ranked Sam Houston State and New Orleans faces a Northwestern State team currently on a five-game winning streak, the Islanders matchup with the bottom-ranked Wildcats, competing against an ACU side that has won just five Southland games all season.  

Islanders earn a postseason spot if any of the following scenarios take place:
A) Islanders sweep Wildcats AND Incarnate Word loses its series to Sam Houston AND Nicholls does not sweep Central Arkansas
B) Islanders sweep Wildcats AND New Orleans is swept by Northwestern State AND Nicholls does not sweep Central Arkansas
C) Islanders win their series with the Wildcats 2-1 AND Incarnate Word is swept by SHSU AND Nicholls loses its series with Central Arkansas AND Lamar does not sweep McNeese
D) Additionally, the Islanders have a shot at clinching a seventh seed IF: Corpus Christi sweeps Abilene Christian AND Incarnate Word loses its series to Sam Houston AND New Orleans is swept by Northwestern State

WHAT TO KNOW
Who: Abilene Christian
When: Thursday, 6 PM
Pitching Matchup: AMCC: A. Hernandez: (3-5) v ACU: B. Barger (2-7)
Where: Crutcher Scott Field | Abilene, Texas

Who: Abilene Christian
When: Friday, 6 PM
Pitching Matchup: AMCC: A.G. Ayala: (4-1) v ACU: J. Nicholson (2-7)
Where: Crutcher Scott Field | Abilene, Texas

Who: Abilene Christian
When: Saturday, 12 PM
Pitching Matchup: AMCC: D. Lacaze: (2-4) v ACU: TBD (0-0)
Where: Crutcher Scott Field | Abilene, Texas

AT THE PLATE
>> Gage Canning of Arizona State and Andrew Moritz of UNCG are the only two players in all of Division I baseball with more triples than the Islanders' Jackson Owens (8) 
>> The Blue and Green has recorded double-digit knocks in 11 of their past 12 Southland contests. The side is 8-4 between those dozen games, after starting the conference season 3-12
>> Outfielder Itchy Burts is currently on an 18-game hitting streak, and has tallied a knock in all but one of his 28 starts in 2018
>> In addition to a 10-game hitting streak, Enrique Sanchez Jr. has touched first safely in each of his last 16 appearances. Sanchez has had five multi-hit performances in the month of May alone, and is hitting .555 since May 2nd
 
ON THE HILL
>> After his nine strikeout performance this past Friday, Islander ace Aaron Hernandez is just three Ks away from becoming the seventh arm in program history to strikeout 100 batters in a single season
>> Corpus Christi set a single season team record during Hernandez' previous start, reaching 421 combined strikeouts on the season. The staff is already at a yearly total of 444, striking out a UIW squad that averages under six strikeouts per nine innings, a combined 25 times over three contests.
>> Freshman A.G. Ayala received the first start of his career on Saturday, holding Incarnate Word to four hits and two earned runs over his 7.0 innings of work, while setting a career-high in strikeouts (7)
>> Right hander Dustin Lacaze returns to the Islander rotation this Sunday. Lacaze has one of the best BB/9 averages on his team this year, surrendering just 20 walks over 59.2 IP (3.02)

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
>> Abilene Christian's 52 double plays on the year rank ninth in all of D1 baseball, and third in the Southland Conference
>> The Wildcats are presently on a three-game losing streak, headed into their contest with UTSA this Tuesday. ACU has won just four series over the course of the season, but all four have come at home inside Crutcher Scott Field
>> Batting .315 with a team-high seven triples and an additional three home runs, outfielder Matt Munoz has been a big part of the Wildcats' offensive lineup this season. The junior recently tallied the first cycle his program has seen in over 18 years, in a 23-20 loss to Houston Baptist

COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders hope that a sweep of the Wildcats will be enough to push them to the postseason in 2018, with the first round of the Southland Conference Championship scheduled to start May 23rd at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. The Blue and Green currently sit ninth in the conference standings, but a move into eighth would most likely pit them against SLC leaders Sam Houston State. A seventh-place finish would grant the Islanders a date with Southeastern Louisiana, whom they took one of three from in Hammond, earlier this year.

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