A&M-Corpus Christi's Offense Overpowers HCU in Series Opener

HOUSTON, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball (19-22, 7-6) opened the weekend series against HCU (8-29, 5-8) with a 12-7 victory at Husky Field Friday afternoon.

"I thought Watson threw a wet blanket on a well-hitting team," praised head coach Scott Malone. "I think the hits just keep coming as Smith-Johnson and Reisdorph seemed to be on base all day. 

A&M-Corpus Christi collected the first run of the day in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by junior Sean Curtis to score classmate Tre Jones. They added an additional run in the ensuing to the board with junior Leo Markotic scoring on an RBI single by sophomore Chance Reisdorph. The Huskies scored a run in the bottom of the third to bring it to a 2-1 game.

Both teams saw scoreless innings through the fourth and fifth before the Islanders cracked the game open with a three-run inning in the top of the sixth. Senior Max Puls ran home for the third run of the game before Curtis walked in a juiced-bases situation for the fourth-scored batter. Jones earned the fifth and final run of the inning on a single by junior Sebastian Trinidad.

In the top of the eighth, the blue and green put two more runs on the board as junior Diego Johnson hit a two-RBI single as Curtis and Smith-Johnson came home to extend the Islanders' 7-1 lead. The Huskies plated two during the bottom half of the inning to make it a 7-3 game.

The Islanders kept the momentum rolling with the team's eighth run of the day with Reisdorph crossing home on an RBI single by Smith-Johnson. Jones scored two batters later for the ninth run before a walk brought home Smith-Johnson for the 10th run scored of the game. Diego Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Curtis before classmate Trinidad score the 12th and final run for the Islanders.

Redshirt sophomore Matthew Watson started the game on the bump for A&M-Corpus Christi and pitched through seven innings, throwing 113 pitches in the outing. Watson struck out 10 batters while only permitting five hits through 24 batters faced. Sophomore Kyle Dickey entered in the eighth inning to close out the game for the Islanders.

The Islanders outhit the Huskies 14-10 to extend a strong offensive performance by the blue and green during the 2023 campaign. Puls collected the team's 20th triple and his first of the season in the first inning with Reisdorph and Jones earning two doubles for all three of the Islanders' extra-base hits.

Smith-Johnson led the team in hits with three on hit four at-bats, stepping on home twice for the Islanders. Jones, Reisdorph, and senior Brendan Ryan each had two hits with five other players earning at least one hit.

A&M-Corpus Christi returns to the diamond against HCU Saturday at 1 p.m. for the second game of the series.

Stay Social
For more information on Islanders Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersBSB), Instagram (@IslandersBSB) and like their Facebook page (Islanders Baseball).
 
#ShakasUp