CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team made its first win of the season on Friday evening a big one, opening up the Kleberg Bank College Classic by picking up a signature victory over UCLA by a final score of 4-3.
The win marked the first ever for the Islanders (1-4) over the Bruins (4-1), as they dropped the only other matchup between the two back on January 12, 2010. It was also their first victory over a power conference opponent since they went on the road and took down Texas on March 26 of last year, and it was just their sixth such win since the start of the 2020s.
"It was an exciting day for us, an exciting day for the athletic department, and in the end, an exciting day for the community that loves baseball," said head coach
Scott Malone. "UCLA is such a strong national brand that for us to really play up tonight and get on their level to go beat a really good team, it's going to give us a lot of energy. It's the reason that we play such a difficult schedule."
The start of Friday's contest proved to be a textbook pitcher's duel, with starter
Zach Garcia looking sharp opposite UCLA's Cody Delvecchio early. The senior navigated his first time through the Bruins lineup with little stress, getting out of a first-and-second situation in the opening frame with a big strikeout and then allowing just one total baserunner over the next three to finish his first four innings of work without allowing any runs.
Garcia's solid work allowed the Islander bats to slowly find their rhythm at the plate, and they finally managed to break through in the third against Delvecchio. Getting things started in the inning were seniors
Mason Persons and
Isaac Webb, with the former leading things off with a four-pitch walk and the latter singling to move Persons over to third and then stealing second on the very next plate appearance. This set the table with no outs and two runners in scoring position for junior
Jackson Smith, and the A&M-Corpus Christi designated hitter came through, scorching a line drive into right field for a sacrifice fly to bring home the first run for the team in 23 innings. This was followed up by another right after, as Webb was able to come home on a wild pitch to double the lead up to 2-0.
The advantage would not hold for long, though, as the Bruins would answer back and get on the board against Garcia in the top of the fifth after he loaded the bases with no outs. UCLA managed to level the game up at two apiece on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly, but the lefty would limit the damage to just that, escaping the inning with no more trouble and then wrapping up his day by going out and working another scoreless frame in the sixth. By the time his day was done, Garcia had logged his first quality start of the year, allowing just the two earned runs on four hits and one walk while punching out four hitters.
Now back in a tie game once again, the Islanders did not wait long to throw their counterpunch, answering back immediately in the bottom half of the fifth. After quickly making the first two outs of the inning, the team started to mount its second rally of the game, with Smith coming through again with a double and senior
Cade Sanchez working a well-earned nine-pitch walk right after. The line then moved to cleanup hitter
Austin Russell, who delivered the biggest swing of the day by smoking the sixth pitch of his at-bat into the corner in left field, scoring both runs and giving A&M-Corpus Christi its lead back one again.
This left the game in the hands of the Islanders bullpen, and as the first man out in relief, freshman
Tristan Crane nearly brought it home by himself. The righty came on after Garcia's departure and made quick work of the Bruins, tossing a perfect seventh and stranding the leadoff man on second base in the eighth to put the team just three outs away from victory. Crane managed to get two of these outs in the ninth, but he would be lifted before he could seal the deal after surrendering UCLA's third run of the night on a ground ball fielder's choice. This gave the responsibility of closing things out to senior
Cam Soliz, and after making things interesting by loading the bases on a walk and an error in the field, the righty slammed the door shut by getting Bruins third baseman Roman Martin to lift a weak fly ball that settled neatly into the glove of right fielder
Christian Smith-Johnson.
The pitching was the big story of the day for the Islanders, bouncing back after a rough series against Kansas last week by holding UCLA to just five hits and two walks in total. The bats also did just enough to take home the victory, with Russell and Smith leading the way with three RBIs between them. These two were joined in the hit column by Webb and sophomore
Jarrett Flaggert, who each got on the board with a knock apiece.
"Tristan and Cam were outstanding out of the bullpen, and I thought Austin had the big hit and just played the game with great energy all night," said Malone. "Super great win for us."
The Islanders will now try to keep the momentum rolling into the second game of the Kleberg Bank College Classic, squaring off against Michigan State at 6 p.m. in a battle between the two winners on Friday. A&M-Corpus Christi will send junior
Luke Singleton to the mound to make the start, while the Spartans answer with righty Nolan Higgins.
"The guys are going to enjoy the win tonight, and then we get up tomorrow at 0-0 again on a new day," said Malone.
#ShakasUp
