CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Junior
Riely Hunsaker was honored as the 2024 Southland Conference's opening edition of SLC Pitcher of the Week Monday ahead of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team bringing the game back to its city to play two games in two days at two different stadiums for some midweek entertainment for the community.
Hunsaker pitched the complete game in the second match up against the Chippewas, only allowing the one run off five hits for the win. He was chasing the shutout before Central Michigan managed to squeak in a run in the top of the seventh before the team closed out the run-rule 13-1 victory. He retired three via strikeouts, all of whom went down swinging. Hunsaker is the first pitcher in the Southland Conference to throw a complete-game, and one of just three among the entire Division I college baseball landscape.
"We are super proud of Riley, he had an outstanding debut for us, and set the tome for the rest of the day," said head coach
Scott Malone. "He made his Islander debut with seven innings and just one run allowed. He did a great job holding down a talented Central Michigan team and giving our hitters every opportunity to get the lead. We'll definitely need Riely to perform at a high level on a weekly basis and to be dominant on the mound for us to be a team that competes for a championship."
It comes ahead of a week of home games for the Islanders (2-2) who will take on Kansas (1-2) at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday night at Whataburger Field, playing as the visitor to the Jayhawks who have occupied the facility over the weekend. A&M-Corpus Christi will then play Texas Southern Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in their official home opener back at Chapman Field.
It comes after a split opening weekend, as the Islanders took two from Central Michigan while dropping the same to Stephen F. Austin. Though, A&M-Corpus Christi got off on the right foot as a 3-1 extra-inning win over Central Michigan in the season opener secured the program's 19
th opening-win and head coach
Scott Malone's 400
th overall win at the helm.
Some newcomers also got their chance to prove themselves over the weekend, as junior transfer
Garrett Gruell led all batters with a .462 average and 1.154 slugging percentage after starting all four games in the outfield. He barreled three doubles and two home runs, helping drive in a team-high six runs.
Junior transfer
Isaac Webb also came up big at the plate, batting a .381 with two doubles and a triple under his belt already. His triple couldn't have come at a better time, as he cleared the bases in extra innings against Central Michigan to send home the two go-ahead runs in the 11
th for the win.
Newcomers
Logan Vaughan and
Tucker McEnroe each knocked five hits over the weekend as both started at their respective positions every game. Returning sophomore
Chance Reisdorph also represented, starting in one game and making two appearances in a pinch-hitting role where he recorded two hits through his five at-bats, scoring two and driving in two runs as well.
On the mound, another notable performance came from junior
Matthew Watson who got the nod in game one to go 5.1 innings, only allowing the one unearned Chippewas run while striking out nine.
Following opening weekend, the Islanders turned in a total of 44 hits for the ninth-most in the NCAA and most in the league. Their 10 doubles also led the conference and is the 16
th most in the NCAA.
It will begin a busy home week for the Islanders, who will also host the annual Kleberg Bank College Classic this weekend at Whataburger Field. They will welcome in Maryland, Washington, and Pittsburg for three games.
"We are circling back home, and the names are getting bigger: Kansas out of the Big 12, Maryland out of the Big 10, Washington out of the PAC-12, and Pittsburgh out of the ACC," said Malone. "Corpus Christi is a baseball town, it loves good baseball, and when we put a good product on the field, people will come see us. It'll be a fun week to open at home, especially with our game on campus Wednesday night against Texas Southern. We would love to see a lot of students come out and support the guys. Here we go, a lot of games coming quick."
All games played at Whataburger Field this week will be streamed live on FloBaseball. Wednesday's matchup against Texas Southern will be available to watch live on ESPN+.
Click here for the Southland Conference release.
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