CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Staving off the Demons of Northwestern State (24-19), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's baseball team (21-24) claimed the series opener Friday night under the lights 11-8 at Chapman Field.
"I think Carver is one of the best four or five pitchers in the league and I thought our lineup was really good tonight with a really good approach," said head coach
Scott Malone. "I couldn't be more proud of our guys."
Junior
Leo Markotic had a career night behind the plate with four hits on five at-bats, earning two RBIs and coming home three times himself. Three of his runs came in the form of extra-base hits with two doubles and a two-run homer.
Christian Smith-Johnson, a freshman, collected a fifth of the team's hits with three on the night. He came back to the plate to score once while driving in an RBI.
As a collective, the Islanders spread out their runs over the first four innings with three in the first, one in the second, five in the third, and two more in the fourth.
Redshirt sophomore
Matthew Watson made the start on the mound and went on to pitch 6.2 innings, striking out six batters in the process. He was relieved by freshman
Kody Gibbs before redshirt junior
Jaime Ramirez Jr. came in for 1.1 innings. Junior
Austin Dean and senior
Hayden Thomas both threw 10 pitches and closed out the game in the ninth.
"Pitching wins and he went out and they got one in the first but then he puts up three straight zeros and just really sets in," praised Malone.
The pitchers shut down the Demons in five different innings to assist the team to the three-run victory.
The blue and green had three doubles, a triple and a home run in the outing. All of their runs were counted as runs batted in to help the team elevate the category.
Starting in the second inning and spanning through the fourth, the leadoff hitters of A&M-Corpus Christi all had a hit to get things going.
A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State return to play each other Saturday night at 6 p.m. at Chapman Field.
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