THIBODAUX, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team was handed a heartbreaking loss in its opening game of conference play on Friday evening, getting walked off in the bottom of the ninth by Nicholls and falling by a final score of 3-2,
The loss continued a run of tough games for the Islanders (6-8, 0-1 SLC) against the Colonels (6-9, 1-3 SLC), with their losing streak in the matchup now reaching seven games dating back to May 13, 2023. It was also their second loss in a row since sweeping Prairie View A&M last weekend, as they were also taken down in a midweek contest in Austin by No. 12 Texas on Tuesday.
Long before things started to heat up late in the evening, the Islanders got the game started on the right foot, rallying with the bats early and jumping on Nicholls pitching for a pair of quick runs. Their first of the day came right in the opening frame, when after junior
Jackson Smith and senior
Cade Sanchez reached base via a hit by pitch and a base hit, senior
Logan Vaughan came through with an RBI knock to give A&M-Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead. The team would then add another one inning later, with senior
Mason Persons doing the honor by punching a single up the middle that brought home senior
Trey Cruz and made it a two-run advantage for the visitors.
These runs would prove to be more than enough for senior starter
Zach Garcia to settle in on the mound, and it became clear very early that the lefty had his best stuff working from the outset. Garcia sat down each of the first 19 Colonels batters that he faced, taking a perfect game into the seventh before finally giving up a one-out single into left to Nicholls left fielder Chase Jans. After walking the next hitter, he managed to work out of his first jam of the day by inducing a huge 5-4-3 double play, which then led into a perfect eighth to put him just three outs away from finishing the first complete game of the season for A&M-Corpus Christi.
While Garcia was working, however, the Islanders went cold at the plate, recording just four hits the rest of the way while advancing only two base runners into scoring position. This kept the Colonels in the game until the very end, and once the final frame rolled around, they finally started to wake up at the plate. The home team led off the ninth with a single and then got another after Garcia got the next two hitters out, which set the table for Nicholls to get its first run with a full-count base hit into left that also moved the tying run into scoring position.
Garcia would come within one strike of ending things once again on the next plate appearance, but on another full-count, pinch hitter Aaron Biediger poked one up the middle to level things up at two and chase the lefty from the game. A&M-Corpus Christi brought on senior
Cam Soliz in relief to try to force the game into extras, but this would not come to pass, as on his second pitch, catcher Logan Mock found the grass in left field to bring home the winning run and hand the Islanders a heartbreaking loss.
The ninth inning spoiled what had been a masterful performance from Garcia, who still finished his day by tossing 8.2 innings while allowing just three earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out a season-high seven batters. In the box, the Islanders got multi-hit performances from Sanchez, Vaughan and Persons, who combined to record six of their eight knocks on the evening. Outside of these three, the rest of the team combined to pick up just two hits in 23 at bats.
The Islanders will now try to shake off the tough defeat in the second game of the series against Nicholls on Saturday, with the action scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
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