BEAUMONT, Texas - In the series opener against Lamar (20-17), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball (17-21) walked away with a 4-3 victory, highlighted by senior
Brendan Ryan's go-ahead home run at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
"It was such a tough dogfight on a Friday night," said head coach
Scott Malone. "
Matthew Watson had an outstanding Friday night start with
Hayden Thomas able to navigate a difficult eighth inning. Then
Austin Dean was amazing to get us through a bases-loaded/no-outs jam in the ninth."
After falling down 1-0 in the second inning, the Islanders tied the game in the fifth inning as junior
Diego Johnson came home on a double by classmate
Tre Jones. The Cardinals regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning before the blue and green tied it up once more in the top of the eighth.
Senior
Brendan Ryan sent a home run out to left center to bring himself back to home along with
Max Puls, a fellow senior. The Cardinals struck once more in the bottom of the ninth, but fell one run short in the end.
Redshirt sophomore
Matthew Watson paved the way on the mound, throwing seven innings in the duel, allowing just four hits with two runs in the outing, striking out two. Senior
Hayden Thomas is credited with the win, throwing through the eighth inning before junior
Austin Dean came in to earn his fifth save of the 2023 campaign. Dean didn't allow a hit in his one inning thrown.
Jones and Puls each had one double in the performance with Ryan hitting the lone home run of the game for either team. The Islanders put seven more hits to their season tally, which already has them highly ranked nationally.
The win is the first on the road for the blue and green since the 2021 season when the two teams played in a doubleheader.
A&M-Corpus Christi and the Cardinals return to the diamond Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
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