SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (10-5-0, 1-0 Southland) dismantled the Incarnate Word (9-6-0, 0-1 Southland) pitching staff in Friday evening's Southland opener, scoring a 13-6 victory over the Cardinals at Sullivan Field in San Antonio, Texas. After enduring a few uneventful innings to begin the matchup, the Islanders offense revved into high gear with 11 runs across the fifth and sixth frames, notching a pair of three-run homers as the Blue & Green vaulted to a commanding 12-score advantage. Meanwhile, starting ace
Dustin Lacaze (3-0) continued to work his magic on the hill, containing the Cardinals through 7.2 innings with eight strikeouts and just three runs allowed on five hits.
KEY INNINGS
Top | 2nd
- Following a
Mike Williams double, sophomore
Steven Rivera-Chijin pushed the first run of the game home on a single into left field.
Bottom | 2nd
- The Cardinals returned the favor a half-inning later, as a leadoff triple coupled with an RBI groundout knotted the game at 1-1.
Top | 5th
- After the Islanders regained the lead with one run in the fourth, Williams locked in a larger advantage late in the fifth behind a three-run homer. The junior crushed a pitch over the left-field wall, bringing home both
Enrique Sanchez Jr. (one-out double) and
Drake Osborn (hit-by-pitch) in the process while expanding the AMCC lead to 5-1.
Top | 6th
- Rivera-Chijin and
Itchy Burts opened the frame with back-to-back leadoff singles, setting up
Nick Anderson with a two-RBI double one at-bat later as the Islanders captured a 7-1 edge.
- An error from the shortstop allowed Sanchez Jr. to reach and Anderson to score in the process, granting an 8-1 lead to the Blue & Green.
- Senior
Thomas Jeffries IV pushed a single into right field on the ensuing at-bat, notching another pair of RBIs as both Sanchez Jr. and Werner (hit-by-pitch) crossed home plate.
- Following a Williams single,
Luke Marbach stepped in with two-on and just one out; the junior first baseman proceeded to power another deep homer over the left-field fence, plating both Jeffries IV and Williams while locking up a 13-1 advantage for the Islanders.
Bottom | 9th
- Facing a near-insurmountable lead, the Cardinals worked to chip away at the Blue & Green edge for the final three frames, scoring a trio of runs in the eighth and another two in the ninth before Islanders relief closed out the win.
ON THE MOUND
- In what currently serves as his longest rotation on the mound this season, Lacaze outgunned Incarnate Word batters for 7.2 innings, surrendering just three runs on five hits. The right-handed junior also struck out eight on the night while walking not a single Cardinal.
- Both senior
Chad Romere and junior
David Worrell picked up .2 frames in relief, with the former allowing three runs on five hits and the latter wrapping the game with nothing given up.
COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders carry an undefeated 1-0 conference record into round two with the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, facing off against Incarnate Word at 2 p.m. in San Antonio, Texas.
STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Islanders Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersBSB), Instagram (
@IslandersBSB) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Baseball).
-- Go Islanders --
