CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – John Gaddis turned in a masterful performance on the mound to collect his third complete-game effort of the season with an emphatic 4-0 shutout of Houston Baptist in game one before a big three-run sixth sealed a 3-2 comeback for the Huskies to split Saturday's twin bill at Chapman Field.
Game 1 – A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Houston Baptist 0
A&M-Corpus Christi built a four-run lead through the opening four frames while Gaddis shutdown the Huskies' offense to take the 4-0 game-one decision and post its first shutout victory of the season.
Gaddis (3-3) went the distance in his third-straight, complete-game win, allowing three hits and fanning a career-high 10 HBU batters in 7.0 innings of standout work.
The Islanders capitalized on a pair of hit batters and a HBU error to put two in scoring position before a
Brendan Ryan single chased home both runners for an early 2-0 advantage in the first home half.
Josh Caraway wore another pitch to reach safely and set up the Islanders' scoring in the third as
Mike Williams and Ryan whacked back-to-back singles to bring him home for the second time that game.
A&M-Corpus Christi completed its game-one scoring the following frame thanks to a
Leo Markotic double and
Luke Marbach walk that led to a successful double steal as Markotic beat the tag at home.
The four-run lead gave Gaddis all the support he needed, retiring six of the next seven batters faced to seal the shutout.
Game 2 – Houston Baptist 3, A&M-Corpus Christi 2
Houston Baptist flipped the script in game two, breaking up its 12-inning scoreless stretch with a decisive three-run sixth and outlasting an Islander threat to secure the narrow 3-2 final and split the day.
Marbach drew the walk and moved to third via a Williams single before a Caraway sacrifice fly plated the opening run of game two for a 1-0 lead in the first.
From there, runs came at a premium as
Hayden Thomas (2-2) pitched five innings of scoreless ball while HBU's starter Daxton Tinker kept the Islanders off the board for six frames after the initial score.
A Marbach homer in the eighth broke up the scoreless streak and gave the Islanders life heading to the final frame, as
Tre Jones and
Scott Hastings ripped two-out singles to keep hope alive before the Huskies coaxed the groundout for their first win of the series.
Itchy Burts and Hastings combined for five of the Islanders' eight hits, with Burts going 3-for-4 in his game-two plate appearances.
Islanders and Huskies decide the series tomorrow (April 25) at 1 p.m.
