CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (7-4-0, 0-0 Southland) posted the team's fifth-straight victory in an augmented series opener against Eastern Michigan (2-7-1, 0-0 MAC), securing a 12-4 final tally Saturday afternoon at Chapman Field. Prior to a heavy fog delay pushing the matchup's conclusion to Saturday (after a Friday evening start), the Islanders took advantage of another strong batting performance, jumping out to a 9-0 edge through four innings. Following continuation of play, the Eagles worked to narrow the gap, scoring four runs before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi closed out the win behind some notable relief pitching out of the bullpen.
KEY INNINGS
Bottom | 3rd
- After picking up a 1-0 advantage in the second frame, the Islanders sought to build on their lead entering the third, doubling their run total behind three consecutive singles to open the frame.
- Following a flyout and a walk to load the bases, senior
Enrique Sanchez Jr. arced a single into right-center field, notching two RBIs as both
Joey Werner and
Nick Anderson scored.
- A
Mike Williams single on the ensuing at-bat sent another home for the 5-0 edge, and
Steven Rivera-Chijin closed out the frame with an RBI sacrifice fly (final out recorded as
Andriud Martinez attempted to advance to second base).
Bottom | 4th
- After the Islanders managed to load the bases with two outs, another Sanchez single -- this time up the middle -- plated two more, pushing the lead to a commanding 8-0.
- A wild pitch later in the frame would score senior
Thomas Jeffries IV, good for a 9-0 advantage.
Top | 5th
- Eastern Michigan picked up a pair of runs early in the fifth, initially plating one on an RBI double before securing the second with an infield sacrifice hit.
Bottom | 8th
- Despite the Eagles notching another run in both the sixth and the eighth frames, the A&M-Corpus Christi offense remained unfazed entering the bottom of the inning.
- Sanchez, in what would serve as his fifth overall RBI on the day, sent home Jeffries with another single, this time a ground ball through the left side.
- After
Itchy Burts loaded the bases with an infield hit to the shortstop, Anderson collected the Islanders' final two RBIs of the game, singling up the middle to plate both Rivera-Chijin and Williams for the eventual 12-4 victory.
ON THE MOUND
- In yet another strong performance, junior
Dustin Lacaze (2-0) nearly held the Eagles scoreless through 5.0 innings of work, striking out four while allowing two runs on just three hits in the right-hander's second win of the season.
- The A&M-Corpus Christi bullpen closed out the matchup with near-perfect efficiency, as a trio of freshman relievers --
Luke Malone,
Steven Vejil and
Hayden Thomas -- combined for 4.0 frames on the hill. The group picked up four strikeouts along the way while surrendering two runs on three hits.
COMING UP NEXT
After closing out the delayed game one, the Islanders opted to push Saturday afternoon's originally scheduled game two against Eastern Michigan (2-7-1, 0-0 MAC) to a 10 a.m. Sunday start, as officials once again deemed fair play impossible due to heavy fog. The mid-morning game two will run for seven innings before both teams wrap up the series with a nine-inning game three immediately afterwards (originally slated for a noon first pitch).
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-- Go Islanders --
