Baseball Dominates Pepperdine In Second Opportunity

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball program defeated Pepperdine in its first game at Chapman Field this season, in a thrilling 10-4 victory.

"You don't get many games like this," said head coach Scott Malone. "You don't get many games where you score eight in two innings. I thought Hayden Thomas was a high level competitor today. I thought it was huge that he kept shutting those innings down early."

The Islanders would combine for a whopping eight runs in the first two innings of the game. Both junior Leo Markotic and sophomore Brendan Ryan walked in the first two at-bats of the game before Diego Johnson, another sophomore doubled into left field, bringing in both runners for a couple of RBIs. Sophomore Josh Caraway flew out to center before fellow sophomore Max Puls reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Johnson to score. Puls then stole second during junior Justin Taylor's at bat, which he eventually struck out in, bringing up Steven Rivera-Chijin. He was hit by a pitch before a strikeout ended the first.

Each batter in the lineup saw action in the second inning, beginning with a walk by sophomore shortstop Tyler Linneweber. During Markotic's at bat, Linneweber advanced to second on a balk by the pitcher. Ryan then doubled to left field to drive in Linneweber and move Markotic to third. The double forced the Waves to make a pitching change before Johnson came to the plate. Johnson proceeded to walk before a balk happened with all the bases loaded, allowing Markotic to score. Caraway and Puls would continue the walking trend for A&M-Corpus Christi which brought in another run on the latter, scoring Ryan.

Pepperdine decided to make another pitching change after three runs had scored without an out being recorded in the inning. Taylor had a chance to redeem himself and delivered by hitting a sac fly to center which brought in Johnson. Next, Rivera-Chijin singled to right, bringing in yet another run as Caraway found his way home, making the score 8-1.

The scoring continued for the Islanders in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs for the home team. Johnson began the half-inning by singling up the middle before advancing to second on a Caraway ground out to third. Puls' bat remained hot as he blasted a triple to right field, bringing in Johnson to extend the lead. Puls then scored on a wild pitch during the next at bat before the inning ended with two straight outs.

Junior Hayden Thomas collected the win to bring his record to 1-1 on the season. He pitched through five and two thirds innings and recorded eight strikeouts in the game before freshman Clay Westbrook came in for relief. Westbrook finished off the sixth and pitched the seventh inning as well, recording one strikeout in the process. Justin Lewis, a junior, came in to start the eighth for his first appearance of the season. After a couple runs scored, senior Daniel Nelson came in with the opportunity to close out another game for A&M-Corpus Christi. Nelson recorded four strikeouts over two innings of work to help bring home the win.

A&M-Corpus Christi will return to Chapman Field tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. for a game against Prairie View A&M.

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