Islanders Softball Preview: at Houston Christian

 

Islanders	Offense	Huskies
.281 (3rd)	Batting Average	.264 (6th)
116 (6th)	Runs	102 (8th)
52 (1st)	Doubles	45 (2nd)
3 (7th)	Triples	6 (4th)
10 (5th)	Home Runs	13 (3rd)
.408 (4th)	Slugging %	.402 (6th)
68 (5th)	Walks	65 (7th)
138 (6th)	Strikeouts	120 (2nd)
.347 (5th)	On-Base %	.333 (7th)
Islanders	Pitching/Defense	Huskies
2.86 (5th)	ERA	3.87 (8th)
157 (3rd)	Hits Allowed	223 (8th)
102 (5th)	Runs Allowed	136 (7th)
93 (6th)	Walks Allowed	94 (7th)
179 (1st)	Strikeouts	144 (3rd)
.238 (2nd)	Batting Avg. Against	.304 (8th)
28 (6th)	Errors	43 (8th)
.962 (7th)	Fielding %	.944 (8th)
5 (9th)	Double Plays	13 (2nd)

 
The Matchup: The Islanders and Huskies have split the past eight games, with HCU winning four out of the past five. The teams played five times in 2022, with TAMU-CC sweeping the regular-season series in Houston without allowing a run (1-0, 7-0,2-0). HCU got its revenge in the Southland Conference Tournament, however, beating the Islanders 5-4 in eight innings and then eliminating the Islanders two days later with a 5-3 win. Current TAMU-CC pitcher Siarah Galvan took the loss in that game, while Thursday's probable Game 1 starter Lyndie Swanson got the save for HCU. … Last year the Huskies took 2 of 3 from the Islanders at Chapman Field, winning both ends of the doubleheader 1-0 and 4-3. … The Islanders won the last game between the two teams, 5-4. TAMU-CC jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a four-run third inning, then held on as HCU scored four runs on eight hits, one walk, three errors and a hit-by-pitch over the final four innings. … Current Islanders Paolina Baez, Taneice Tyson, Rhea-Ann Avalos, Sidney Campion and Juliana A. Garcia combined to go 6-for-13 with four RBIs during that game. … Primrose Aholelei got the win with 4.1 innings of two-run ball. She allowed six hits, one walk and struck out one. Sydney Hoyt got her third save of the year by allowing two runs (none earned) on four hits over 2.2 innings. … TAMU-CC and HCU first met in TAMU-CC's inaugural season (2000). They split a doubleheader in Corpus Christi, with the Islanders winning 9-6 and the Huskies winning 6-4.
 
Eyeing the Islanders: The Islanders will be looking for their first road victory of the season. TAMU-CC is 0-8 in true road games, 8-1 at home and 9-1 on neutral fields. … Senior Taniece Tyson continues to find herself all over the conference leaderboard. She's tied for fourth in batting average (.378), tied for second in home runs (6), fourth in slugging percentage (.703) and fourth in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.130). … The only other Islander in the top 10 of any offensive category this week is leadoff hitter Alina Jasso, who is tied for eighth in doubles with seven. … Junior Sidney Campion had a breakout performance against Northwestern State, collecting a team-high five hits and tying for the team lead with three runs scored. Campion had seen her average fall to a season-low .239 prior to the series, yet she was moved into the 2-hole and responded with a pair of singles in Games 2 and 3 and a single in Game 1. She raised her average 29 points to .268. … The Islanders had just three extra-base hits against NSU – all doubles, one each by Sydney Hoyt, Crystal Davila and Kimane Rogron – but they still had a .360 on-base percentage for the series thanks to 18 singles, nine walks and two hit-batters. … Hoyt, Davila and Rogron all had a team-high three RBIs during the series. … Primrose Aholelei returned to form after uncharacteristically struggling the week prior against UIW in San Antonio. The senior ace won both Games 1 and 3, allowing a total of two runs on 10 hits. She collected 14 strikeouts and held the Demons to a .204 average. … Aholelei (11-5) is now two wins from third place on the school's all-time wins list with 30, and her 37 career complete games are five away from third place as well. She's already third in career strikeouts with 312, while she's ninth in games started (45) and eighth in innings pitched (304). … The Islanders didn't commit an error during the series. It is the longest errorless streak of the season for TAMU-CC. … The Islanders have committed just two errors in their past eight games.
 
Say What? A&M-Corpus Christi coach Kathleen Rodriguez, on Sunday's 3-0 win that featured a pinch-hit, two-run single from Mimi Thornton: "Our women kept their head down and battled well. Mimi came up huge in a tight situation. Pinch-hitting is one of the hardest things to do, and she did it really well."
 
Rodriguez, on three mound meetings in separate innings with Primrose Aholelei and catchers Precious Aholelei and Felixia Hinojosa: "The mound meetings were just to remind Prim, Precious and Isha of who they are, remind them of their goodness. Deep breaths, no frustrations, just moving forward confidently every pitch."
 
Scouting Houston Christian: HCU coach Mary-Ellen Hall is in her 33^rd season at the helm of her alma mater. The Houston native has amassed 892 career wins and is the all-time winningest coach across all sports at HCU. … Junior third baseman/shortstop Haylie Savage and sophomore centerfielder AB Garcia each were selected to the Southland Conference Preseason All-Conference first team. Both were first-team all-conference selections after the 2023 season, with Savage earning her second consecutive all-conference honor and Garcia being named the SLC Freshman of the Year. … Savage led the Huskies in home runs (7) and RBIs (41) and was second on the club in batting average (.341). Garcia led the SLC with a .419 batting average, was fourth in hits and tied for fifth in runs scored. She was the first HCU player to earn an individual accolade since 2013. … In addition to her SLC honors, Garcia was named to the NFCA Top 25 Freshman Watch List midway through 2023 before capping her season with NFCA All-Region honors. … Savage has picked up where she left off last year, leading the team in home runs (4), runs (24), doubles (9) and walks (17). She's also third in batting average (.295), second in on-base percentage (.421) and second in slugging percentage (.564). … Senior catcher Jasie Roberts, who usually hits behind Savage, leads the team in batting average (.377), RBIs (16), slugging percentage (.623), on-base percentage (.442), OPS (1.065) and triples (2).
 
TAMUCC (17-10, 5-4 SLC)
Thursday, March 28 – vs. Houston Christian (14-13, 1-5), 4 p.m., Husky Field, Houston
Thursday, March 28 – vs. Houston Christian (14-13, 1-5), 6:30 p.m., Husky Field, Houston
Friday, March 29 – vs. Houston Christian (14-13, 1-5), Noon, Husky Field, Houston
 
On Deck: Following the series with HCU, the Islanders will play Southeastern, La., in a three-game series at Chapman Field. Games 1 and 2 will be played at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5, and the series finale will be played at noon on Saturday, April 6.
 
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