PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Fresh off a 2-1 series victory over (previously) nationally-ranked Lamar, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team will get a brief respite from Southland Conference action with a road game against Prairie View A&M at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
It will be the second game of the season between the two teams. The Islanders (19-25) beat the Panthers (20-22) 10-3 on April 2 at Chapman Field.
Sebastian Trinidad (3-for-3) and
Mason Persons (3-for-4) led a 13-hit attack for TAMU-CC.
Stephen Hom went 2-for-4 with a team-high three RBIs, and
Bryce Logan got the start at shortstop and went 2-for-4.
It was one of seven times that the Islanders have scored in double figures this season, and they did it all without leading hitter
Issac Webb, who sat out the game with an injury.
The Islanders also stole three bases against the Panthers, with Trinidad swiping a season-high two – including a steal of home to start the scoring – to go along with his season-high three runs scored.
In what was a midweek bullpen game,
Jack Hill got the start and went three innings. He allowed one unearned run on two hits with a strikeout, while Cam Solis ended up with his first victory of the season with two innings of hitless relief.
Samuel Feltz,
Kendall Dove and
Joshua Flaugher went the last five innings, combining to allow two runs on just two hits with four strikeouts.
PVAM is on a six-game winning streak, having swept their last two conference series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alcorn State. The Panthers are 7-3 since their last meeting with the Islanders.
TAMU-CC leads the all-time series with PVAM 12-2. The Panthers won the very first meeting between the teams in 2007 (5-3), then lost nine straight before taking a 5-4 win in 2022. TAMU-CC has won the past three games by a combined score of 30-8.
The Islanders are coming off a dramatic weekend that saw them knock off Lamar – which was ranked as high as No. 24 in three separate national polls – with a walk-off grand slam in Game 1, then take a 7-3 victory in Game 3. In the only game the Cardinals won – 6-3 in Game 2 – the Islanders had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Islanders scored 16 runs on 26 hits in the series against the best pitching staff in the Southland Conference. The Cardinals came into the series leading the SLC in seven different pitching categories and were third nationally in ERA (3.27), fourth nationally in hits allowed per game (6.8) and eighth nationally in shutouts (4).
"I think at the plate, it was just our day," TAMU-CC coach
Scott Malone said after his team collected 11 hits against four Lamar pitchers in the finale. "We haven't been killing it. We haven't been as consistent as we need to be, but it's the second Sunday in a row that we just relaxed and went out and attacked and got our swing off."
Zach Garcia handled things on the mound Sunday, as he improved to 4-0 with seven strong innings. He allowed just two runs on six hits with six strikeouts, five of which came on batters looking at a wicked curveball.
TAMU-CC is now in fifth place in the SLC, just 2.5 games behind New Orleans and UIW for third place, and three games behind Nicholls for second. The Islanders have three SLC series left before the conference tournament, with the final two coming against the No. 8 and 9 teams in the conference (Southeastern and McNeese).
The Islanders will have a quick turnaround after Wednesday's game. They travel to New Orleans on Friday to begin a three-game series against the Privateers, one of the teams directly ahead of the Islanders in the standings.
On Deck: The Islanders next will play a three-game SLC series at New Orleans. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Home again: The Islanders will return home on Friday, May 3 to begin a three-game conference series with McNeese at Chapman Field. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Friday, May 3, at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4 and at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 5.
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