CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A nail-biter of a rubber match on Saturday between the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeastern softball teams came down to the bottom of the seventh where the Islanders walked it off for the 7-6 win at Chapman Field.
The win clinched the series for the Islanders (21-24, 9-6), their fourth conference series victory. A&M-Corpus Christi's win total this season is now 21 games, making this year the winningest since 2011.
Five seniors were celebrated during the senior-day game as this was the last home game of the season for the Islanders.
Grace Gilbert,
Beatriz Lara,
MacKenzie Purcell,
Haley Morse and
Ashleigh Sgambelluri threw a "first pitch" to their families prior to the start of game and were then recognized for their contributions to the program in a post-game ceremony.
The Islanders struck first in game three when sophomore
Gabriella Torres bunted Sgambelluri in for the 1-0 lead in the second inning. Southeastern (34-14, 11-4) responded in the next frame with an unearned run to tie the game at ones.
A back-and-forth of scoring got the game to 3-2 with the Lady Lions on top after a sacrifice fly by Sgambelluri drove junior
Pal Egan in in the third and a pair of runs by Southeastern in the fourth. Then, with bases loaded, Egan got her hit over the fence for the grand slam and four-RBI, scoring junior
Quinn De Avila, freshman
Paolina Baez, Morse and herself to go up 6-3.
A big fifth inning by the Lady Lions tied the game up and after a scoreless sixth inning on both sides, the game headed to the seventh 6-6. Freshman pitcher
Siarah Galvan, who came in the game in the fifth as relief, got the three up three down in the top of the seventh to set up the walk-off win for the Islanders.
Sophomore
Shelbie Fickling hit a sacrifice bunt and made it all the way to second after an error by Southeastern, getting freshman
Jaquelin Garza to third who pinch ran for sophomore
Sydney Hoyt. Junior
Madison Garza headed to the plate and with the 3-2 count, managed to put the ball in play to drive Garza in for the walk-off 7-6 victory.
Egan and Torres both turned in multi-hit games with two apiece, with Egan recording her first triple of the season and extending her streak of reaching base to 22 games. Egan is now one of four players to complete the season-cycle.
Gilbert made the start in the circle, throwing for 4.2 innings before being relieved in the fifth. She struck out two batters and let up four earned runs. Galvan, the reliever, quieted the Lady Lions for the remaining 2.1 innings of play while only giving up one hit.
The Islanders will finish out the regular season on the road next weekend at UIW for their last three-game conference series. The Southland Conference tournament is set for May 10-13 in Hammond, Louisiana.
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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