CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team could not ring in its return to Chapman Field with a win in its series-opening game against McNeese on Friday evening, playing a completive contest for much of the day but losing momentum late and dropping by a final score of 9-4.
Back in front of the home fans for the first time in nearly two weeks following the end of a six-game road trip, the Islanders (16-21, 5-13 SLC) showed some fight early on, falling behind early thanks to two runs from the Cowboys (21-17, 10-9 SLC) in the top of the third but responding nicely with a pair of their own in the bottom half of the same frame. This first rally started with walks from both
Jack Bergstrom and
Karson Krowka, and with a pair of runners on,
Jarrett Flaggert continued his recent tear by lacing a double into left field that scored both, tying the ballgame up at two apiece.
After a quiet fourth inning, A&M-Corpus Christi got going with another run in the fifth, taking its first lead of the day on yet another RBI knock from Flaggert that brought home
Matt Evans after he and Krowka had reached with singles. This would not last long thanks to another two from McNeese in the sixth, but the Islanders would fight back to scratch one of those back in their time up in the same frame.
Walker Freeman got the inning going with a base hit off the bench in his pinch-hit plate appearance with one out, and after
Jake Barron entered the game as a pinch runner for him,
Christian Smith-Johnson would find the gap in right center for a double that brought the freshman all the way in from first and leveled things back up once again at four apiece.
Unfortunately, the Islanders lost their spark at the plate after this point, tallying just two more hits in the seventh while going down in order in both the eighth and ninth without hanging any more runs on the board. In contrast, McNeese put together their best stretch at the plate during this same time, plating five unanswered runs to first take the lead and then build it to a point where the hosts could not mount a comeback.
For the fourth time in as many games, Flaggert was the star in the lineup for A&M-Corpus Christi, this time going 3-5 at the plate with a double and three RBIs. Since last Saturday's contest against Southeastern Louisiana, the third baseman has gone 7-17 with six extra-base hits and a whopping 14 RBIs, tallying at least three in each of the last four contests. After him, Krowka also picked up a three-hit night of his own in his first start in the leadoff spot of the year, and Smith-Johnson tallied the only other RBI and extra-base hit with his sixth-inning double.
On the mound, the team also saw a nice showing from starter
Chase Mayer, who punched out a season-high 11 batters in his six innings of work. This was the first time that an Islanders starter reached double-digit strikeouts in a game since Evans Hendricks did so back on February 21, 2024 against Texas Southern, and it was the most for any member of the team since John Gaddis tallied 13 against Sam Houston State all the way back on May 26, 2021.
The Islanders will now attempt to even up the series at a game apiece in their return to the field on Saturday, with first pitch currently scheduled for 2 p.m.
#ShakasUp
