SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi baseball program (10-6-0, 1-1 Southland) fought to the final pitch in game two against Incarnate Word (9-6-0, 1-1 Southland) on Saturday afternoon, narrowly faltering to the Cardinals by a 6-5 margin at Sullivan Field in San Antonio, Texas. Despite falling behind on multiple occasions, the Islanders' offense consistently responded in clutch situations, knotting the game twice (2-2 & 5-5) before a wild pitch in the eighth secured the one-run win for UIW.
KEY INNINGS
Top | 2nd
- With senior
Enrique Sanchez Jr. set up at third, junior
Drake Osborn drilled a hard-hit single to third base, drawing first blood as the Blue & Green secured a 1-0 advantage.
Bottom | 3rd
- The Cardinals responded with a pair of RBI singles in the third frame, grabbing their first lead of the series, 2-1.
Top | 4th
- After Osborn reached first on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a
Mike Williams single, junior
Luke Marbach pushed the tying run home with a double down the left-field line.
Bottom | 5th
- Incarnate Word managed to recapture their lead in the fifth, initially going up 3-2 off a sacrifice fly before a two-RBI double later in the frame locked up a 5-2 advantage.
Top | 7th
- The Islanders continued to fight into the seventh inning, opening the frame with a
Steven Rivera-Chijin hit-by-pitch and a double from
Itchy Burts to set up runners in scoring position.
- Following a Cardinal pitching adjustment, senior
Nick Anderson took advantage with a single into shallow left field, pushing Rivera-Chijin home and advancing Burts to third.
- A failed pickoff attempt turned error allowed Burts to pick up another run while Anderson moved into scoring position at second base.
- Sanchez Jr. sealed another tie game with a single into right center, escorting Anderson home and setting up
Joey Werner (walk) at third base.
Bottom | 8th
- After UIW loaded the bases with one out, the Blue & Green almost managed to work their way out of the inning with no runs surrendered, initially picking off a runner at home on a fielder's choice. During the ensuing at-bat, though, the winning run came home on a wild pitch from sophomore
Zach Rumfield.
ON THE MOUND
- Sophomore
Leo Perez put together 4.0 innings on the mound in yet another mid-series start, retiring one batter on strikes while allowing two runs on five hits.
- Following Perez's exit to open the fifth, fellow sophomore
A.G. Ayala (1-1) took over on the mound, tossing 3.1 frames with four runs surrendered on four hits with one strikeout. Rumfield entered for the final two outs, giving up just one walk with no hits and no runs allowed.
COMING UP NEXT
With the series knotted at one apiece, the Islanders aim to lock up the three-game set with another victory on Sunday afternoon, facing off against the Cardinals at 1 p.m. at Sullivan Field in San Antonio, Texas. Follow along with live stats
HERE, live video
HERE and live audio
HERE.
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-- Go Islanders --
