SAN MARCOS, Texas – Going on the road to face a stout Texas State program, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team came out with a stunning 6-5 victory over the Bobcats Tuesday night at the Bobcat Ballpark.
The Islanders (7-8) was aggressive early and kept attacking at Texas State (7-5), taking a quick lead before holding strong with the final go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth to secure the one-score difference. It was powered largely in part by the valiant effort from junior
Logan Vaughan who drove in half of A&M-Corpus Christi's runs.
Vaughan went 2-for-4 at the plate including a rocket over the right field fence for the momentum-building home run in the third. He also sent one to the gap in right center in the eighth to drive home the two go-ahead runs as the 6-5 score held up to the end.
Ensuring the Bobcats stayed at five, junior
David Stuart and senior
Maddox Thornton combined to throw 2.1 innings of hitless baseball to earn Stuart the win and Thornton the save. Senior
Samuel Feltz helped set the tone as the typical closer opened the night on the bump and sat all six batters faced down in consecutive order.
"I was really proud of our guys," said head coach
Scott Malone. "I thought we played really, really good baseball in all three facts. Sam Feltz, who has been our closer, got the surprise start and we just needed him to open it and give us a good start and he went and got six quick outs and set the tone. I thought he was outstanding.
"
Maddox Thornton came in and closed the game again in a really tight spot. He's becoming really good at it and we're leaning on him a lot and he's been outstanding and just keeps getting better.
Logan Vaughan then had the monster night for the offense with a big homer that gave us energy in the middle of the game. It was a great night and a fun win for us. Hopefully we can just keep playing good baseball," said Malone.
The Islanders showed patience early as juniors
Drake Kerr and
Garrett Gruell both drew walks in the first to occupy the first and second bases. Junior
Josh Blount singled to center to load the bases and senior
Sebastian Trinidad stayed disciplined and got the four-pitch walk to score the first run of the night.
Vaughan then smoked one deep to right field for the solo home run in the top of the third on the 1-1 count to get the Islanders up 2-0.
Texas State tied things up in the bottom frame with a pair but A&M-Corpus Christi responded an inning later. Trinidad tripled to right with one-down before junior
Stephen Hom sent one through the right side to drive in his teammate to regain a 3-2 lead. In the sixth, a walk and a sacrifice bunt got junior
Isaac Webb in scoring position and Blount drove one to left center for the standing double as Webb ran home for a 4-2 advantage.
The score reversed after a three-run seventh inning from the home team, but the Islanders wouldn't falter from it. In the top of the eighth, Webb reached base after getting clipped before Gruell added a base runner with the single up the middle. The next at-bat advanced them to second and third and with two-down, Vaughan barreled one right over the second baseman and the runners safely reached home for the 6-5 lead.
The Bobcats would get two on in both the eighth and the ninth, however, the Islanders bullpen shut down any attempt to secure the road victory. It marks A&M-Corpus Christi's first win over the Bobcats since the 2019 season, the last time the Islanders also won in San Marcos.
The Islanders will return to the comfort of their home field this weekend to host UTSA in a three-game series. It will begin a five-game homestand for A&M-Corpus Christi who will also host UTRGV and UH-Victoria next week.
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