Baseball drops series debut against Abilene Christian, 4-1

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (12-8-0, 2-2 Southland) faltered in the team's Southland home opener against Abilene Christian (10-8, 3-1 Southland), deferring a 4-1 decision to the Wildcats on Friday evening at Chapman Field. Despite strong performances on the mound from both starter Dustin Lacaze (3-1) and reliever A.G. Ayala, ACU managed to tack on a pair of runs in both the fourth and seventh frames, locking up the win behind a near-complete game from Spencer Chirpich (3-1).

KEY INNINGS
Top | 4th
- Buoyed by singles on four of the opening five at-bats, the Wildcats pushed two across before Lacaze quelled any further scoring, jumping out to a 2-0 advantage.

Top | 7th
- After the Islanders switched to Ayala in the seventh, Abilene Christian generated another short burst of offense late in the frame. Despite sitting two outs deep, the Wildcats proceeded to post back-to-back doubles and an RBI single to pick up a 4-0 edge.

Bottom | 9th
- Luke Marbach got things going early in the Islanders' final at-bat, reaching on a one-out single through the left side. Fellow junior Trevor Beard sent Marbach home with an RBI single up the middle, effectively ending the shutout and forcing the Wildcats to reach into their bullpen.

ON THE MOUND
- In yet-another long-inning start, Lacaze worked his way through a solid 6.0 innings on the hill, surrendering just two runs on five hits with a game-best seven strikeouts. Ayala stepped in for the final 3.0 frames, retiring four batters on strikes while giving up two runs of his own on just four hits.

COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders continue their three-game conference series with Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon, first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. at Chapman Field.

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