JACKSON, Miss. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team continued its strong start to the 2024 season, splitting a pair of games that spanned 13 hours on Saturday at the River City Classic to improve to 3-1 on the young season.
The Islanders (3-1) began the day at 8 a.m., falling to host Jackson State 9-8 in nine innings, before coming back 11 hours later to beat Alabama A&M 8-2. By winning three of their first four games, the Islanders are off to their best start in eight years when the 2016 squad started the season 5-1.
The Islanders ended the long day by scoring five times over the final three innings to pull away from the Bulldogs. Junior leadoff hitter
Sidney Campion spearheaded a 16-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, while junior
Monee Montilla was 2-for-4 with two runs and sophomore Juliana Garcia was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Eight of the nine in the starting lineup knocked at least one hit, and 10 of the 11 Islanders who had an at-bat reached base via a hit. A&M-Corpus Christi also collected three doubles, with senior
Alina Jasso, senior
Felixia Hinojosa and Garcia all going for extra bases.
The beneficiaries of the offensive onslaught were freshman
Kendra Winfrey and sophomore
Malia Williams. The newcomers combined to allow just two runs – one earned – on only four hits. Winfrey got the start, allowing both runs on three hits and two walks. She also struck out four.
Williams pitched the final four innings to get the win, allowing no runs, just one hit and two walks. The transfer from Oregon also struck out seven.
A&M-Corpus Christi nearly stayed perfect during the first game of the day, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the seventh inning against the host Tigers. But Jackson State tied the game with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. The Islanders regained the lead with a run in the top of the ninth, but the Tigers walked it off with two in the bottom of the ninth.
A&M-Corpus Christi appeared headed for another win after scoring three in the first, one in the second and a pair in the third. Freshman
Isabella Hune had three of the Islanders' 13 hits with a run and two RBIs out of the 9-hole. Campion, senior
Kimane Rogron and freshman
Brooke Jones each had a pair of hits, while Campion, Rogron and sophomore
Mimi Thornton all drove in two runs apiece.
Senior
Primrose Aholelei kept the Tigers scoreless until the seventh, but still put forth a dominant effort despite the one-inning hiccup to strike out 14 over 8.1 innings. Only two of Jackson State's nine runs were earned.
After scoring a team-record 17 runs on opening day Friday, A&M-Corpus Christi's 16 runs Saturday shattered another program record. The 33 total runs are the most by the Islanders over an opening four-game stretch in team history. The 2011 Islanders scored 24 runs in the first four games en route to the most successful softball season in A&M-Corpus Christi history.
The 2024 Islanders have a chance to keep pace with the 2011 team – which started 5-1 and finished 41-19 – when they take on Grambling at 11 a.m. Sunday. The Islanders then make a stop in Ruston, La., at 6 p.m. Monday to play Louisiana Tech before opening their home schedule with a doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin at noon Saturday.
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Islanders Softball) and follow the program on Twitter (
@IslandersSball) and Instagram (
islanderssball).
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