MOBILE, Ala. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team struggled on a cold Friday, falling to Maine 9-1 and Notre Dame 8-3 to start off the Mardi Gras Classic, hosted by South Alabama.
The Islanders (4-8) couldn't counteract big offensive spurts from Maine (1-4) or Notre Dame (6-5) to drop both games today. They were able to match the Fighting Irish with eight hits but couldn't string it together enough to also match them in runs.
Mimi Thornton led the offensive production for the Islanders, registering three hits and a run between the two games.
CJ Castilla also notched a multi-hit game against Notre Dame after going 2-for-3 at the plate along with a run.
Game 11 // Maine 9, A&M-Corpus Christi 1
The Black Bears were able to tack on three before the Islanders got on the board, coming in the fourth when
Skylar Heger got things going with the double down the right field line.
Jolie Elizalde pinch ran for Heger and was able to advance to third on a throwing error from the Maine outfield.
Zoey Stewart then drove her home during her at-bat, reaching base herself on another fielding error. Despite loading the bases off yet another error, the sole run would be it for the Islanders as Maine went on to six more in response.
Ripley Welker and Thornton would also knock a hit in the game, but they couldn't combine to combat Maine's 10 hits.
Game 12 // Notre Dame 8, A&M-Corpus Christi 3
The Islanders played the second game closer until Notre Dame was able to break away late. After going down 2-0 through two innings, A&M-Corpus Christi evened things up with a pair of their own in the third.
Paolina Baez drew the lead-off walk before Thornton singled to left for two on early with no outs. A sac bunt by
Crystal Davila not only advanced the runners but a fielding error kept her safe at first while Baez was able to score. Heger scored Thornton on the sac fly in the next at-bat and the game was knotted at 2-2.
Notre Dame tacked on another two in the bottom frame, but the Islanders got one back in the sixth after three consecutive base-hits from Castilla,
Madison Espinoza, and Baez scored Castilla to make it a close 4-3 game. However, the Fighting Irish separated themselves in bottom of the sixth with four runs to win it 8-3.
On deck:
The Islanders will look to heat up and get back in the win column tomorrow, rounding out the chilly weekend with a 11:30 a.m. matchup against Lipscomb before closing with South Alabama at 7 p.m.
#ShakasUp
