CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In an emotion filled night, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team came up a run short in the bottom of the twelfth as UTSA evened the series with the 5-4 defeat late Saturday night at Chapman Field.
The Islanders (8-9) went late into the night after forcing extras after a two-run single by senior
Sebastian Trinidad evened the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth. However, it was UTSA (8-7) who came out on top of the exhaustive 12-inning game after plating two in the inevitable final frame of the night.
Trinidad accounted for every run being scored by the Islanders as his 4-RBI night set a new career-high for him. He came up big again in the 12
th as he sent the fourth run of the night home off a single to left trying to keep the game alive, but the Roadrunners nipped the threat of a tie or walk-off in the next at-bat.
He reached base in four is his five at-bats with three hits and a walk. Junior
Isaac Webb also knocked the three-hit night while juniors
Drake Kerr and
Garrett Gruell each recorded a pair of hits. Gruell scored two of the runs while Kerr's run came off Trinidad's single in the 12
th.
A&M-Corpus Christ's pitching crew only conceded four earned runs, as junior
Riely Hunsaker still posted the quality start with four strikeouts. Junior
Joshua Flaugher also struck out four through his 2.0 outing while senior
Maddox Thornton retired a trio on strikes.
It was a pitcher's duel through three until Gruell led off the fourth with the single to center and was able to get into scoring position in the next at-bat. Trinidad then blooped one over to right field to get Gruell home as the Islanders broke the barrier for a 1-0 lead.
It wasn't until the sixth that the Roadrunners got into the game offensively, though, it was off two costly errors from the A&M-Corpus Christi field that allowed UTSA to get on the board for a 2-1 lead.
UTSA extended its lead with another after a balk sent the runner home from third in the top of the eighth. Looking down 3-1 in the bottom frame, Gruell, junior
Josh Blount and junior
Logan Vaughan loaded the bases with two-down and on the 2-2 count, Trinidad sent one to right for the game-tying 2-RBI single and we headed to extras as the 3-3 score held up through nine.
It still held up through 11 as the night spanned into the 12
th inning when the Roadrunners got two on base with one out. A fielder's choice got the runner out at second but it was smart base running from the UTSA left-fielder who turned third and scored on the play as the Islanders tried to turn two at first before the runner beat it out. An RBI single then tacked another as UTSA broke away 5-3.
The Islanders tried mustering up a response as Kerr led off with a potential momentum-building base hit. An error put Blount on first as he joined Kerr on the base paths with one out. Trinidad had kept his bat warm into the extra innings and singled to left to send Kerr home from second as the Islanders inched closer to a rally, but UTSA's closer got the final out for the save and to force the rubber match.
The final game of the series will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m. back at Chapman Field. It will be the second rubber match of the year for the Islanders after the series with Abilene Christian last weekend went to a deciding third game with A&M-Corpus Christi coming out victorious.
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