Islanders Claim Series Over UT Arlington With Win

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team claimed a series victory over UT Arlington by clinching the second game, 6-2 at Clay Gould Ballpark.

"It's tough to win a series on Saturday and to get one is huge," said head coach Scott Malone. "I think the mindset is in a great spot and we have 54 to go, but it's a great start."

The game began with a back-and-forth dog fight as the Mavericks took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. The Islanders responded back with a run in the second as sophomore Max Puls doubled to right to bring fellow sophomore Brandon Petkoff in, cutting the lead in half. Junior Leo Markotic, the first batter in the third, wasted no time by shooting a home run to left center field, evening the tally at 2-2.

Through four innings of play, neither team brought in a score, showing the tenacity of the pitching staff at work. Senior Leo Perez had 5.1 innings of work before freshman Zach Garcia came in for relief in the bottom of the sixth

"First I was out there warming up and started to warm up just a bit too much and they put me in and I went out there with all the confidence I had and the team behind my back," said Garcia.

In his first collegiate outing, Garcia wouldn't allow another run and would go on to win his first game.

"I thought he had great composure," praised Malone. "He was outstanding and to his credit, that leaves us [sophomores] Colin Purcell and Kennedy Parks that we thought we might get to last night and tonight. He helped set up a bullpen tomorrow."

Having fought tooth and nail through the first seven innings of the game, the Islanders had a huge eighth inning to take the lead. After a fly out to start the eighth junior Justin Taylor walked before the Mavericks collected a second out to put the Islanders in danger. Sophomore Diego Johnson drew the second walk of the inning before both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch during Petkoff's plate appearance. Petkoff then launched the ball over right field for a home run to collect three RBIs, making the score 5-2.

Freshman Cole Modgling and junior Leo Markotic sealed the deal in the top of the ninth as Modgling led off with a single and was later driven in by Markotic.

"Markotic was great. Our hitters have been on time against some talented arms throwing really, really hard," said Malone. "He came up with a huge home run, getting us right back to even with some attitude and swagger."

Malone didn't want Markotic to only be known for his home run and batting though, continuing on to say, "He's playing as good as defense as anybody in 15 years here. He's got range and great play and off to a good a good start."

The Islanders will take the mound at 1:00 p.m. Sunday to continue to work for the opening weekend sweep.

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