Baseball Falls to Lumberjacks in Extra Innings

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team fell to Stephen F. Austin in ten innings, 9-6 at Chapman Field.
 
"It felt like we were right on track to beat them, but a home run late felt like you just got beat by a half-court shot," said head coach Scott Malone. "I thought it was one of the best crowds I can remember in a long time at Chapman Field. I feel good about our chances tomorrow. We'll come out and play well."
 
Senior Tyler Miller made the start on the mound for the Islanders and grinded his way through four innings of work. Miller earned seven strikeouts in the appearance and exited gave way to sophomore Jaime Ramirez Jr. He spent three innings even on the mound before freshman Clay Westbrook came in to pitch the eighth. J.T. Moeller and Daniel Nelson both came in to pitch an inning before the game's conclusion.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi put up a fight in the bottom of the first two innings. Sophomore Diego Johnson walked in the bottom of the first and was the lone Islander baserunner of the half. Sophomore Josh Caraway was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the second, and advanced to second on a ground out by junior catcher, Justin Taylor. Sophomore Brandon Petkoff came up next and hit a ball to the parking lot beyond right field that was called foul, though the team would put up quite the argument. After things settled down, he ended up flying out to center field to end the inning quietly.
 
Max Puls, a sophomore, walked in the second at bat of the inning to begin the damage the Islanders would do. Next, Caraway singled, which allowed Puls to advance to third. Puls then scored when senior Steven Rivera-Chijin grounded into a fielder's choice. Rivera-Chijin didn't have to wait on first long as Taylor walked in the next at bat, bringing Petkoff back up to the plate. He belted a single, advancing Taylor to third and scoring Rivera-Chijin, bringing the score to a 2-2 tie.
 
The momentum continued for the Islanders in the fifth inning as Johnson started a two out rally by getting on base with a single. Puls followed that up with a single of his own, advancing Johnson to third. Caraway was then hit by a pitch for the second time to load the bases for the Islanders. Rivera-Chijin came in clutch once again by hitting a single out to left field that scored two as both Puls and Johnson came across the plate. The inning then ended on a Taylor strikeout.
 
Petkoff stayed hot by leading off the sixth inning with a double to right field. Sophomore Tyler Linneweber proceeded to bunt for a single, and advanced to second on an error by the pitcher, which consequently scored Petkoff. The next two at bats lead to outs bringing up Ryan, who singled to right field. Ryan then stole second during Johnson's at bat, but he and Linneweber were stranded on base when Johnson struck out to end the inning.
 
The scoring didn't stop there as A&M-Corpus Christi brought in yet another run in the eighth. Taylor began the inning by reaching first on an error by the third baseman. Linneweber then singled to the shortstop two batters later, which moved Taylor to second. Next, Markotic singled to load the bases for the Islanders. Ryan then reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Taylor and the final run for the team, now leading 6-3.
 
The Lumberjacks scored three in the ninth inning to send the game into extras, where they added three more runs to seal the deal.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi will play Stephen F. Austin again Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Chapman Field.

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