NEW ORLEANS – Facing a team that had been averaging eight runs a game and had scored in double figures 16 times – including a high of 26 just two weeks ago – the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team went back to what they were built to do: pitch, play defense, then pitch some more.
Matthew Watson and converted started
Riely Hunsaker combined for the Islanders' first shutout of the season, holding the powerful New Orleans offense to just four hits with nine strikeouts Friday night in a 2-0 victory at Maestri Field. In addition to being the first Islanders shutout of the season, it was just the fourth time the Privateers had been shutout this year – two of which came against Florida State.
"The pitching was outstanding," TAMU-CC coach
Scott Malone said. "We talked about it Thursday night. This team is built to pitch and play defense … that is the formula. Watson and Hunsaker carried it out tonight, and we played great defense behind them."
Watson was especially stingy, allowing just three hits over six innings with four walks and six strikeouts. He allowed just three runners to get as far as second base – one was thanks to a passed ball in the first and the other two on three straight walks in the fifth – and just one runner was able to get to third.
Hunsaker was equally as impressive.
The tall righty had been a fixture as the middle starter in the weekend rotation, but a few rough outings forced a change. Hunsaker was sent to the bullpen, where he's thrived.
Hunsaker came on in the seventh inning and immediately retired the first eight batters he faced before the Privateers got their lone extra-base hit of the night – a double – with two outs in the ninth. No matter, as Hunsaker struck out the last batter looking – his third strikeout in three innings – to nail down his first career save.
"For Hunsaker, it was a life opportunity," Malone said. "He could get through some adversity and come through the other side unselfish and being a team-first guy. He has been a team-first guy all week."
The Islanders got all the offensive support they needed in the fourth inning.
The Islanders got two runs in the fourth after
Garrett Gruell led off with a double on the first pitch that short-hopped the wall in left field. Two outs later,
Chance Reisdorph singled to center to drive in Gruell with the first run of the game.
Cole Modgling followed with a single to center as well, then
Mason Persons blistered a rope down the first-base line that ricocheted off the first baseman's glove and down the right-field line. Reisdorph scored to make it 2-0, which was plenty for Watson and Hunsaker.
"Those were three great at-bats in the fourth," Malone said, "and all three of them with two outs. Reisdorph then Modgling then Persons. Three huge at-bats that got us the two runs we needed."
The Islanders had 10 hits total, with every starter but one collecting at least one hit. Reisdorph was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Modgling was 2-for-4.
Issac Webb ran his hit steak to 14 games with a 1-for-5 night, while
Christian Smith-Johnson went 1-for-4 to run his hitting streak to six.
Sebastian Trinidad has now reached base in 11 straight games after going 1-for-5, while
Logan Vaughan also joined the hit parade with a single.
On the flip side, UNO's Miguel Useche saw his 30-game on-base streak come to an end after he went 0-for-4, and Mitchell Sanford – the odds-on favorite to win the SLC Hitter of the Year award – saw his average fall to .411 with a 1-for-4 night. He also was caught trying to steal for the first time all season when Reisdorph gunned him down in the fourth inning. He had been 13-for-13.
Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow, as
Jack Hill will get his first conference start for the Islanders.
TAMUCC (20-26, 8-8 SLC)
Friday, April 26 – vs. New Orleans, W (2-0)
Saturday, April 27 – vs. New Orleans (23-18, 8-5), 2 p.m., Maestri Field, New Orleans
Sunday, April 28 – vs. New Orleans (23-18, 8-5), 1 p.m., Maestri Field, New Orleans
On Deck: After the series in New Orleans, 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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