TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (19-14, 7-8) VS. LAMAR (23-16, 9-6)
What: Southland Conference three-game series
When: Friday-Saturday, April 12-13
Where: LU Softball Complex, Beaumont, Texas
Times: 3 p.m. Friday; 5 p.m. Friday; Noon Saturday
TV: ESPN
Live Stats: t.ly/JsYhZ
All-time series: Lamar leads 10-14.
Preseason predictions: TAMU-CC was picked to finish fifth in the conference; Lamar was picked to finish fourth.
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2024 Standings
| SCHOOL |
SLC |
PCT. |
OVERALL |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| McNeese |
11-1 |
.917 |
26-15 |
17-7 |
7-6 |
2-2 |
W3 |
| Southeastern |
10-2 |
.833 |
33-8 |
10-3 |
12-4 |
11-1 |
L1 |
| Nicholls |
9-3 |
.750 |
22-17 |
7-6 |
6-9 |
9-2 |
W3 |
| UIW |
10-5 |
.667 |
23-10 |
15-1 |
3-8 |
5-1 |
W6 |
| Lamar |
9-6 |
.600 |
23-16 |
10-5 |
8-6 |
5-5 |
L4 |
| A&M-Corpus Christi |
7-8 |
.467 |
19-14 |
8-4 |
2-9 |
9-1 |
L3 |
| HCU |
2-10 |
.167 |
15-19 |
7-7 |
5-10 |
3-2 |
L5 |
| Northwestern State |
2-10 |
.167 |
14-23 |
2-7 |
3-11 |
9-5 |
L4 |
| A&M-Commerce |
0-15 |
.000 |
7-36 |
7-22 |
0-12 |
0-2 |
L3 |
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Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1 – TAMU-CC RHP
Primrose Aholelei (13-7, 2.22) vs. Lamar RHP Emma Wardlow (9-3, 1.79)
Game 2 – TAMU-CC LHP
Siarah Galvan (1-2, 2.66) vs. Lamar RHP Karyana Mitchell (10-5, 1.93)
Game 3 – TAMU-CC RHP
Primrose Aholelei (13-7, 2.22) vs. Lamar RHP Emma Wardlow (9-3, 1.79)
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Leading Off: A&M-Corpus Christi lost all three games to Southeastern, La., this past weekend by a combined score of 17-2. …
Primrose Aholelei actually saw her ERA go down despite taking a pair of losses in Games 1 and 3. She allowed just four earned runs in tossing her 14th and 15th complete games of the season, but the Islanders scored no runs in either game, falling 3-0 and 5-0. ...
Taniece Tyson, TAMU-CC's leading hitter, drove in the only two runs of the series for the Islanders with a two-run single in Game 2. … The Islanders only trailed 3-2 heading to the seventh inning of Game 2, but the Lions scored six times to take a 9-2 victory … Tyson was limited to just one pinch-hit at-bat in Game 3 because of illness. …
Crystal Davila, who is third on the team in RBIs, also missed Game 3. … Lamar was swept by SLC defending champion McNeese last weekend by a combined score of 19-5. The Cardinals were shut out in Game 1, 7-0, then dropped both ends of the doubleheader the following day 6-2 and 6-3. … Both teams are on season-long losing streaks. TAMU-CC has lost three straight, while Lamar has dropped four in a row.
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Tale of the Tape – Southland Conference rank is in ( )
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| Islanders |
Offense |
Cardinals |
| .271 (4th) |
Batting Average |
.260 (6th) |
| 128 (6th) |
Runs |
154 (5th) |
| 58 (1st) |
Doubles |
47 (6th) |
| 4 (T8th) |
Triples |
11 (2nd) |
| 11 (6th) |
Home Runs |
9 (T7th) |
| .388 (5th) |
Slugging % |
.353 (7th) |
| 85 (T6th) |
Walks |
120 (2nd) |
| 165 (6th) |
Strikeouts |
162 (5th) |
| .339 (4th) |
On-Base % |
.338 (5th) |
| Islanders |
Pitching/Defense |
Cardinals |
| 2.87 (5th) |
ERA |
2.64 (3rd) |
| 193 (2nd) |
Hits Allowed |
286 (T7th) |
| 124 (T3rd) |
Runs Allowed |
127 (5th) |
| 109 (T6th) |
Walks Allowed |
68 (1st) |
| 210 (1st) |
Strikeouts |
153 (7th) |
| .237 (T2nd) |
Batting Avg. Against |
.273 (7th) |
| 36 (4th) |
Errors |
39 (5th) |
| .960 (7th) |
Fielding % |
.968 (4th) |
| 5 (9th) |
Double Plays |
10 (T5th) |
The Matchup: The Islanders have won six out of the past eight games against the Cardinals. … TAMU-CC took two of three during the regular season last year, then beat Lamar 3-2 in the conference tournament in Lake Charles, La. … The Islanders swept the Cardinals the last time they played in Beaumont with three shutouts, winning 6-0, 11-0 (5) and 6-0. … Prior to 2021, the Cardinals had won nine straight from 2015-19. … The series started in 2013 with a Lamar three-game sweep, which was immediately followed by TAMU-CC winning four in a row. … The two teams squared off in the first round of the SLC tournament a season ago, with the Islanders winning 3-2 behind Aholelei's complete-game four-hitter. Aholelei struck out 10 as the Islanders collected their last win of the season. …
Sydney Hoyt hit a two-run homer in the first inning. It was her fourth home run of the season and 10th of her career. … The Islanders got an insurance run in the sixth when
Kimane Rogron reached on an error with the bases loaded, allowing a run to score. It came in handy, as Lamar scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. … Clinging to a 3-2 lead, Aholelei twice faced a two-on, one-out situation and escaped with a pop up and a strikeout in the sixth, then a ground out and a strikeout looking to end the game. It was her 19th and final win of the season.
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Eyeing the Islanders: TAMU-CC has a conference-leading 58 doubles this season after collecting four more against SLU. The Islanders have had at least one double in all but five games this season. … The Islanders also still lead the conference in strikeouts despite striking out just eight SLU batters last weekend. Aholelei had seven of those in her two starts, while
Ariella Saenz had the other. … Saenz got her fourth start of the season in Game 2 and gave up just three runs (two earned) through the first six innings. But she couldn't make it out of the seventh, as the Lady Lions touched her for five more runs on four hits, a walk, three stolen bases and a passed ball. …
Malia Williams relieved Saenz and gave up the final run on two walks, a single and two stolen bases before securing the final out. … Aholelei – the nation's sixth-leading strikeout artist – had to wait until the final batter she faced in Game 3 to get her first strikeout. It was the fewest number of strikeouts she's ever had in a complete game, surpassing the three she had against Nicholls on April 1 of last year. … Nevertheless, Aholelei kept an amazing streak intact. The senior from Hawaii has had at least one strikeout in every game she's pitched for the Islanders. She's made 55 appearances as an Islander, and she has at least one strikeout in every one of them. … TAMU-CC loaded the bases just once in the three games. It amounted to nothing as
Sidney Campion was called out for stepping out of the batter's box when she swung and fouled off a 3-2 pitch. The Islanders are still hitting .333 with the bases loaded, however. … The first and fourth innings are crucial for the Islanders. They are outscoring teams 34-18 in the first inning but are being outscored 28-18 in the fourth. … Those are important innings because TAMU-CC is 11-2 when leading after 1 and 0-11 when trailing after 4. … "3" seems to be the magic number for the Islanders. They are 16-3 when scoring three or more runs, but just 3-11 when scoring fewer than three runs. Conversely, the Islanders are 15-0 when they hold teams to two or fewer runs, but just 4-14 when opposing teams score three or more runs.
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Say What? A&M-Corpus Christi coach
Kathleen Rodriguez after Game 3 against SLU: "We made some needed adjustments to give us a chance to take one. We had enough offense to do some things; we just didn't have the clutch hitting that is needed. I was proud of the adjustments and the energy the girls brought. We have a list of what we need to work on this week to prepare for our next series. We will get to work right away and be better."
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Rodriguez, on a bases-loaded out-of-the-box call on
Sidney Campion in the first inning of Game 3: "They said Sid crossed in front of the plate out of the box. I've been having my catcher clean up in front of the plate for that so you can see a foot mark. I asked him to show it to me so I could adjust her at-bat. He couldn't and didn't want to do it."
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Rodriguez on a second controversial call in the fourth inning when catcher
Precious Aholelei was called for obstruction, allowing a run to score: "He called obstruction at the plate. I explained that she gave the plate and went in for the tag when she had the ball. It definitely switches momentum to the visiting dugout, which is tough."
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Scouting Lamar: Center fielder and leadoff hitter Shenita Tucker leads the Cardinals in five different hitting categories and is second in three others. The sophomore is first in batting average (.354), at-bats (127), runs (30), hits (45) and stolen bases (23). She's also second in doubles (8), second in slugging percentage (.533), second in on-base percentage (.424) and fourth in triples (1). She also leads the team in strikeouts with 22. … Among SLC leaders, Tucker is first in at-bats, first in stolen bases, fourth in hits, fourth in strikeouts, fifth in runs and eighth in doubles. … Left fielder Kalyn Xayaseng hits .313, second baseman Jayne Sepulveda hits .309, and third baseman Trinity Brandon hits .308. No other Cardinal hits better than .250. … Lamar features two of the best pitchers in the conference in Emma Wardlaw and Karyana Mitchell. Wardlaw, a freshman, is 9-3 with a team-leading 1.79 ERA, while senior Mitchell is 10-5 with a 1.93 ERA. The duo accounts for 71 percent of Lamar's inning pitched, 82 percent of the strikeouts and 83 percent of the wins.
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TAMUCC (19-14, 7-8 SLC)
Friday, April 12 – at Lamar (23-16, 9-6), 3 p.m., LU Softball Complex, Beaumont
Friday, April 12 – at Lamar (23-16, 9-6), 5 p.m., LU Softball Complex, Beaumont
Saturday, April 13 – at Lamar (23-16, 9-6), noon, LU Softball Complex, Beaumont
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On Deck: Following the series with SLU, the Islanders will get the conference bye week and won't play again until April 26.
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Home again: The Islanders will return home on Friday, April 26 to begin a three-game conference series with defending SLC champion McNeese. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at noon on Friday, April 26, then play a single game beginning at noon on Saturday, April 27.
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