CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Islanders baseball program fell 4-5 to Texas, the top-ranked team in the nation, in the final game of the series at Whataburger Field. A multitude of pitchers helped keep the game close en route to a close loss.
"I thought [senior]
Leo Perez was nice along with [sophomore]
Jaime Ramirez Jr.," said head coach
Scott Malone. "Those guys set the tempo early and I thought we fed off of that. [Freshman]
Kyle Dickey made his debut. good to get him out against the number one team in the nation."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi saw five pitchers make appearances on the mound, led by freshman
Zach Garcia who did 4.0 innings of work to close out the game. He earned two strikeouts in his time pitching. Perez started the game out and pitched an inning of work before being relieved by Ramirez Jr. Dickey came out to the mound in relief for Ramirez Jr., proceeding to pitch 1.1 innings while facing eight batters. Sophomore
Kennedy Parks also made his way through an inning of work before Garcia came in.
"Garcia has been throwing well. He's had a great fall and early spring," said Malone. "He was way over my expectations at UT Arlington and I think he just did it again against the most talented hitting group we may see."
The Islanders took the first lead of the game with sophomore
Josh Caraway scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. Caraway had gotten on base via a throwing error. He then advanced to third base on a wild pitch before scoring.
The fifth inning would be huge for A&M-Corpus Christi with three runs coming in to tie the game at four a piece. Sophomore
Brandon Petkoff was hit by a pitch to start the rally. A couple at bats later, fellow sophomore
Max Puls would reach first on an error by the shortstop, advancing Petkoff to second. Freshman
Cole Modgling would also get on base via an error by the third baseman before
Tyler Linneweber, a sophomore, would ground out to allow the runners to take another base, scoring Petkoff on the play. In the next at bat, senior
Leo Markotic would double, bringing in Modgling and Puls to tie the game.
Sophomore
Nick Mueller did his part to make the game interesting in the bottom of the ninth. He got on base after being hit by a pitch, but would make a daring move to steal second, which was successful. The game would then end on a ground out in the next play.
The Islanders will return to Whataburger Field to host the Kleberg Bank College Classic this weekend, playing their first game against Wichita State on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersBSB), Instagram (
@IslandersBSB) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Baseball).
#ShakasUp
