NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi chipped away at an early Northwestern State lead with the help of seven shutout innings by the Islanders' pitching staff to come away with a 5-4 rallied win Saturday at Brown-Stroud Field to even the series and force the rubber match.
A&M-Corpus Christi's (15-20, 3-5 SLC) pitching staff buckled down after conceding four runs early, allowing the Islanders' offense to bite back through the next seven innings to ultimately complete the 5-4 comeback victory. The bullpen prevented the Demons (11-21, 4-4 SLC) from extending their second-inning offense the rest of the way after junior
Riely Hunsaker neared a quality start after going six innings.
After letting up all four of Northwestern State's runs in the second, Hunsaker found a groove and only allowed one other hit through his next four innings for his fourth win of the year. It set the tone for the rest of the bullpen who extended the shutout through the final out. Senior
Maddox Thornton registered his sixth save of the year after a quick three-up, three-down in the bottom of the ninth, getting two of them on strikeouts.
It wasn't without the efforts of the offense to complete the comeback, with the go-ahead run coming in the seventh. It was none other than senior
Sebastian Trinidad who drove in that final run as the third baseman finished the day with three hits and three RBIs.
Junior
Mason Persons helped with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, rounding home twice for a pair of runs. He also drove in one of the much-needed runs, as his RBI-single in the fourth drove junior
Drake Kerr home.
Northwestern State knocked four extra-base hits in the second to take a seemingly dreadful 4-0 lead, but the Islanders found some comfort after getting two of them back in the third. Persons drew the lead-off walk and advanced to third on junior
Isaac Webb's single to right, who stole second for a pair in scoring position. Trinidad then barreled the bases-clearing double to center to make it a 4-2 game.
Hunsaker made quick work in the bottom frame as the Islanders were able to tie in the next time up. Kerr and senior
Cole Modgling both reached base in the fourth and took advantage on the base paths off some errant throws by Northwestern State to get into scoring position. Persons singled through the right side to send Kerr home before Modgling scored on Webb's next at-bat to tie it at 4-4.
The final surge of offense wouldn't come until the seventh, as Persons looked to get A&M-Corpus Christi's first lead with a lead-off single on an 0-2 count. He got himself to second before hustling home on Trinidad's knock to right center for the 5-4 lead that held up to the end.
The Islanders will look to complete the reverse sweep of the series tomorrow at 12 p.m. in the rubber match. The game was moved up an hour, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., pending weather. A&M-Corpus Christi will be going for their second conference series win of the year.
The Islanders have won every rubber match they've played this year, securing series wins over Abilene Christian, UTSA, and UIW.
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