Bats Erupt in Slugfest Win at Rice

HOUSTON, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team claimed victory in a 12-10 slugfest between the two teams at Reckling Park late Wednesday night.

"It was a great team win tonight," said head coach Scott Malone. "It was not easy for us. Rice has a talented group of hitters and they are playing great ball right now. It was a game of momentum and we had just enough left to turn a monster double play to finish the game."

The win marks the first time the Islanders have taken down the Owls in program history. A&M-Corpus Christi struck first to get an early 1-0 leadoff of a single by sophomore Tucker McEnroe. Josh Caraway, a sophomore, scored on the hit as both he and sophomore Tre Jones were walked in the two prior at-bats. 

In the top of the third, the Islanders kept the momentum going by adding three runs to their total. Both senior Steven Rivera-Chijin and sophomore Brendan Ryan made base by a walk and hit by pitch respectively. The hit by pitch for Ryan brought him up second in Division I baseball with 14 on the season. The runners advanced on a wild pitch before a couple of outs occurred. The out count didn't matter as Caraway hit a ball all the way out to center field for his third home run on the season. The score remained 4-2 through the fourth inning with no runs being scored.

The Islanders plated another run in the top of the sixth as junior Justin Taylor hit a double before a single by sophomore Tyler Linneweber brought him home on a single in the next at-bat. Rice plated four runs in the fifth and sixth, taking a 6-5 lead, setting up the road for the Islanders to come back.

A&M-Corpus Christi did just that, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh to regain the lead 7-6. Ryan singled to get on base before transfer Cole Modgling came in to pinch run. Junior Leo Markotic singled, permitting Modgling to dash all the way to third base before coming home on a Puls single to tie the game at six apiece. Caraway singled in the next at-bat after a pitching change to load the bases. McEnroe continued to excel in his first start as an Islander by reaching on a fielder's choice that allowed Markotic to come home for the 7-6 lead.

After the game was tied up in the bottom of the seventh, the Islanders fought back again in the eighth, earning five runs for a 12-7 lead. Linneweber hit a single to left before Rivera-Chijin hit a home run out to right field to get the lead right back at 9-7. Markotic doubled out to right before Caraway hit his fourth triple of the season to bring in Markotic. Sophomore Nate White hit the third home run for A&M-Corpus Christi to get a couple more runs added to the board before a groundout ended the inning.

Senior Cassius Shy made the start on the mound for the Islanders, pitching 2.1 earning two strikeouts in his time at the helm. Freshman Clay Westbrook came in for relief in the third inning before transfer sophomore Kennedy Parks entered the game in the bottom of the fifth. The two combined for a pair of strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Entering in the bottom of the sixth was sophomore Sean Sieve, making his sixth appearance out of the last 11 games for the Islanders.

The rotation continued for the Islanders as freshman Marco Gutierrez entered the game after Sieve say five batters on the night. Colin Purcell, another sophomore came in to pitch in the seventh inning as senior Henry Bird came in for relief before sophomore JT Moeller closed out the game.

A&M-Corpus Christi will take a day of rest while traveling before taking on conference opponent Northwestern State on Friday at 6:30 p.m. to start a three-game series.

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