CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Coprus Christi softball team will host McNeese in a three-game series to open Southland Conference action at Chapman Field over the weekend.
Beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. CT, the Islanders (10-17) will face McNeese (13-14) in a doubleheader before the teams round out the series with a third and final game on Saturday at noon.
The Islanders have had a tough schedule so far as they have faced four different power-five opponents, but managed to nab wins over two of them. The first instance came against Syracuse when freshman
Jaquelin Garza hit a game-winning home run to give the Islanders the 3-2 edge. A&M-Corpus Christi picked up its second win over a power-five team when it took down the Baylor Bears 2-1 in Waco, the program's first win over Baylor since 2004.
Freshman
Denay Smith earned the win for the Islanders over Baylor as she threw her first complete game to keep the Bears at their lowest scoring game of the season. She struck out four while she was at it and didn't walk a single batter. Smith has now made the most appearances on the team at 14.
A&M-Corpus Christi has only played five games at home this season but will host its next five games including this series. The Islanders are 4-1 at home which includes two doubleheader sweeps over Green Bay and Prairie View back in February. In game one against the Panthers, the Islanders made a furious eight-run comeback beginning in the sixth inning to ultimately walk it off in the seventh with an RBI single by senior
Grace Gilbert.
A two-way player, Gilbert posts a .250 batting average and a 5.05 ERA. She has pitched the most in the circle for the Islanders and has struck out a team-high of 29.
Junior
Pal Egan leads the team across the board with a .382 batting average, .724 slugging percentage and .520 on-base percentage. She accounts for the most runs, hits, and RBIs at 25, 29 and 19, as well as having a team-high of 11 doubles in which she is fifth in the nation for.
In addition to being ranked fifth nationally for doubles, Egan is also ranked 20th for doubles per game and 49th for on-base percentage. Also on the leader board for Division I softball, sophomore
Sydney Hoyt finds herself ranked eighth in the nation for walks per game and 77th for her on-base percentage (.500).
Egan has started in every game this season along with sophomore
Kimane Rogron. Rogron holds the longest hitting streak on the team at 11 and is one of five players to have hit a home run so far this season.
McNeese has faced three power-five opponents themselves including defeats by #1 Oklahoma and #11 Texas. Most recently, the Cowgirls played a three-game series against Baylor last weekend and won one of the games 5-4.
The Cowgirls were picked to finish first in the SLC Preseason Poll. Sophomore Ashley Vallejo has won two of the six SLC Pitcher of the Week awards this season while sophomore Josie Willingham was awarded the first SLC Hitter of the Week.
Both games on Friday will be streamed on ESPN+ while the Saturday matchup can be watched on the Islander Digital Network.
Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Softball, keep up with the team via their Facebook page (
Islanders Softball) and follow the program on Twitter (
@IslandersSball) and Instagram (
islanderssball).
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