SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A late comeback by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's baseball team (7-7) fell just short against UTSA (12-3), falling 10-6 at Roadrunner Field Friday evening.
"I'm not surprised when we have a hit or have a comeback," said head coach
Scott Malone. "Who would have thought we were going to have the tying run at the plate. I'm not surprised as it's an offensive team and an older group."
UTSA struck first in game one of the series with a two-run home run in the first inning. A&M-Corpus Christi cut the lead in half in the ensuing inning on a single by junior
Sebastian Trinidad as sophomore
Chance Reisdorph came home for a run.
The Roadrunners worked up their lead in the bottom of the third with five runs to gain a 7-1 advantage. Entering the top of the fifth, junior
Tre Jones smacked a ball to left field for a triple, earning two RBIs as Ryan and classmate
Diego Johnson scored. The triple marked the 13th of the season for the Islanders and broke the tie with UTSA to lead the nation in the category. Jones came home himself on a single by
Max Puls, a senior, out to center field.
With a three-run advantage, the Roadrunners added three more to the board to make it a 10-4 game in the fifth. Both teams posted a shutout inning in the sixth to slow the high-scoring pace of the game. Two more scoreless innings followed before the top of the ninth.
With three outs left for redemption, the Islanders fought back with three consecutive hits to score one run off of Ryan's single out to left field. Senior
Leo Markotic earned A&M-Corpus Christi's fourth consecutive hit before D. Johnson scored in the next at-bat off a fielder's choice, making it a 10-6 game.
Senior
Hayden Thomas made his fourth start on the mound for the blue and green, pitching 2.2 innings and striking out one batter before sophomore
Marco Gutierrez came in for 2.1 innings of relief. Gutierrez earned two strikeouts on the night and finished with a 2.61 ERA.
Classmate
Kyle Dickey made his first appearance on the season, entering the game in the sixth inning. He saw three batters off the bat and put them down in order to get out of a quick inning. Dickey went on to complete two more scoreless innings for the Islanders to finish out the game.
A&M-Corpus Christi finished the night with a 1.000 fielding percentage with no errors in the performance. The team combined for a 58.6% strikeout rate on the night with 152 pitches thrown.
The leadoff hitters hit .444 for the Islanders, the last coming in the top of the ninth with a single by senior
Jake Johnson. The team hit .310 on the night with 13 collective hits and no errors for the unit.
Returning to Roadrunner Field, the Islanders and Roadrunners face each other in game two Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
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