Quick Start Not Enough in Series Finale against Northwestern State

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball program got on the board early but couldn't hold off a hot-swinging Northwestern State squad Sunday in a 17-8 decision at Chapman Field.
 
The Islanders (22-25, 10-8 SLC), who were going for the series sweep, built a 4-1 lead after two innings. Though, the Demons (25-20, 10-8 SLC) mounted the hits and were able to pull away late.
 
"Tough day for us. The pitching and defense got away from us early," said head coach Scott Malone. "We heated up a good Northwestern State offense, and once those good hitters got going it was hard to slow them down. They found every hole on the field today and their talented hitters started driving runs in."
 
Freshman Christian Smith-Johnson led the Islanders offense with a 3-for-4 day with a pair of runs and a couple RBIs. It was his seventh three-hit game and 12th multi-hit outing of the season.
 
With a pair of hits, senior Max Puls extended his hitting-streak to nine games. Also with hits in the game were sophomore Chance Reisdorph, junior Tre Jones and senior Leo Markotic who hit a three-run dinger.
 
Markotic's three-run blast came in the first inning. Trailing 1-0 and with two outs, Markotic launched a ball over the right field fence to score Jones and senior Brendan Ryan to make it a 3-1 game. It was Markotic's third homer of the year.
 
The Islanders extended it to 4-1 in the second on a leadoff homer to left by Reisdorph, his second of the season.
 
Northwestern State answered with a pair in the third and three in the fourth to go up 5-4. It included an inside-the-park home run after a ball hit deep down the left field line by Michael Dattalo was nearly snagged down on a diving effort by senior Cole Modgling, but the left fielder got hurt on the play and Dattalo rounded the bags before A&M-Corpus Christi could retrieve it in time.
 
The Islanders got one back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by junior Sebastian Trinidad. A two-RBI double by Smith-Johnson to right center in the fifth trimmed the deficit to 10-7 at the time.
 
However, the Demons plated three in the sixth and four in the eighth to catapult ahead 17-7. A&M-Corpus Christi's final run of the game came on an RBI single by Puls to center in the eighth.
 
Junior Evans Hendricks got the start and lasted 3.0 innings. Junior Austin Dean, sophomore Kyle Dickey, junior Samuel Feltz, junior Jaime Ramirez Jr., senior Hayden Thomas and junior Dalton LeBlanc made appearances out of the bullpen. Most notably, LeBlanc threw 1.2 perfect frames and struck out a pair.
 
"We are playing quality baseball every weekend," Malone said. "Next week will be a big test at Nicholls."
 
The Islanders continue conference play Friday when they hit the road for a 6:30 p.m. start at Nicholls.

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