THIBODAUX, La. -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (15-10, 4-3 Southland) battled through a tough series opener at Nicholls (12-11, 4-3 Southland) on Friday evening, surrendering a late pair of runs before falling by a 5-3 margin at Didier Field in Thibodaux, La. Junior ace
Dustin Lacaze pitched his way through a near-scoreless 6.1 innings on the day, striking out five and exiting the game with a 3-1 advantage; meanwhile, the Islanders offense generated the first runs of the game during the sixth and seventh frames, jumping out to a 3-0 edge before allowing the Colonels a combined five runs over the final two innings.
KEY INNINGS
Top | 6th
- After
Itchy Burts and
Enrique Sanchez Jr. led off the inning with a pair of singles,
Joey Werner advanced both into scoring position with a well-placed sacrifice bunt, setting up the Islanders to notch the first runs of the game.
- Senior
Nick Anderson posted the matchup's first RBI off a sacrifice fly deep into center field before
Mike Williams added another behind a single up the middle, pushing the Blue & Green to a 2-0 advantage.
Top | 7th
- With
Trevor Beard sitting on third just one out deep, Burts laid down a perfect RBI bunt up first-base line, adding one more to the Islanders' lead and reaching on the play in the process.
Bottom | 7th
- Three consecutive singles ruined Lacaze's attempt at a shutout, cutting the margin down to just two runs, before a two-out bloop hit into shallow center field glanced off Anderson's glove, scoring a pair and knotting the game at 3-3 entering the final three frames.
Bottom | 8th
- The Colonels grabbed their first lead of the night on a fielder's choice, plating a runner from third, before tacking on an insurance run later in the ninth behind an RBI single.
ON THE MOUND
- Lacaze continued his role as the Islanders' Friday night starter, setting down five batters on strikes while surrendering just three runs on six hits across 6.1 innings of work. In relief, a quartet of Islanders --
David Worrell,
John Gaddis,
Zach Rumfield and
A.G. Ayala -- handled the final 1.2 frames, combining for two runs allowed on three hits.
COMING UP NEXT
After falling in the series opener, the Islanders look to even the three-game set with the Colonels in game two, scheduled for Saturday evening at 6 p.m. in Thibodaux, La.
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-- Go Islanders --
