LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team could not take home the win in the rubber match of its series against McNeese on Saturday afternoon, going cold offensively and dropping the finale by a final score of 3-1.
After the Islanders (14-26, 6-15 SLC) struck for the first score in each of the first two games of the set, it ended up being the Cowboys (29-7, 16-5 SLC) that did so in the third contest, getting out to an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. After senior
David Dean retired the first two batters of the frame in quick order, McNeese would start its first rally of the day, extended things with a double and a walk before then jumping on the board with an RBI single right back up the middle. The hosts would go on to double this advantage two innings later, getting another run in the fourth on another run-scoring knock off of freshman
Bryson Shea in his first inning of work.
While McNeese got its bats going, the Islanders found themselves in a cold spell with theirs to start, getting held scoreless through the first five innings while stranding a runner in scoring position in three of them. It wouldn't be until the sixth that they finally managed to break through, plating their first run on one big swing by sophomore
Jarrett Flaggert. With two outs in the frame, Flaggert ambushed the first pitch that he saw in his at-bat and sent it way over the fence in left field for his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to cut the team's deficit to one. This marked the second consecutive game with a homer for the third baseman, and it was his eighth extra-base hit in just his last 13 games.
This would be the only damage that A&M-Corpus Christi could muster on the day, though, as after picking up a big insurance run in the seventh, McNeese was able to hold serve throughout the last part of the day to take home the 3-1 win. The Islanders were kept in check by Cowboys reliever Jake Blackwell, with their last 10 hitters of the game going down in order against the lefty after a single by senior
Trey Cruz immediately following Flaggert's longball.
The loss spoiled what was an overall good day by the Islanders' pitching staff, starting with a solid effort from Dean, who worked around six hits to surrender just one run in three innings of work. Shea took the bulk of the work on the day, tossing 3.1 innings while striking out five and allowing two earned runs, while junior
Luke Singleton worked 1.2 scoreless frames and gave up just a lone single.
The Islanders will now head back home for their final midweek tilt of the season on Tuesday, hosting UTSA at Chapman Field in a game that was moved from San Antonio to Corpus Christi due to previous scheduling conflicts. The first pitch for this contest is currently scheduled for 6 p.m.
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