SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team scored a big upset in its midweek contest on Tuesday evening, going on the road and putting together an excellent all-around effort to take down Sun Belt foe Texas State by a final score of 7-2.
With the victory, the Islanders (22-22) have now surpassed their win total from the entire 2025 campaign when they finished with a record of 21-31, doing so with seven games still left to be played in the regular season. They also earned their third win in their last four matchups against the Bobcats (27-18) dating back to 2019, with this one coming against a version of the team that entered play ranked all the way up at No. 37 in the nation in the NCAA Baseball RPI rankings.
After surrendering a run to the hosts in the first inning, A&M-Corpus Christi cobbled together the biggest scoring outburst for either team on the day in the third, putting up a four spot to erase the early deficit and then build up a cushion of its own. This rally began with the bottom of the order, with No. 9 hitter
Jake Barron leading off the frame with a double and then getting moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from
Karson Krowka. The reigning Southland Conference Hitter of the Week
Christian Smith-Johnson would then start the scoring in the next plate appearance, shooting the gap in right center for a double to plate Barron and knot things up at one apiece.
An out right after this put the Islanders in danger of stranding Smith-Johnson at second, but
Will Stark made sure that didn't happen, staying red hot at the plate with a one-hopper off the wall in left center that gave the team the lead for the first time on the day. This advantage would proceed to grow even larger just a couple pitches later, as immediately following this,
Hunter Azemar came up and smoked a hanging breaking ball over the fence for a two-run home run, his third of the season and second in as many games to bring the score up to 4-1 in favor of A&M-Corpus Christi.
The scoring proceeded to slow down considerably from here in a testament to the Islanders' pitching staff, which shook off the early run and nearly held Texas State off the board entirely for the rest of the night. The team used seven different pitchers on the day, starting with two innings from
Chandler Fowler, who bounced back after the first and worked a 1-2-3 second.
Luke Robertson followed with two outs in the third, and after the Bobcats got runners on second and third against the righty,
Matthew Molina came in and picked him up, stranding both with a huge strikeout and then finishing the fourth in scoreless fashion. Next out of the bullpen was
Nathan Mueller with two frames of scoreless ball himself, which helped bring the game to the home stretch with the team still out in front.
This excellent effort on the mound would get supplanted late in the game at the plate, with the Islanders getting going once again to give themselves even more breathing room. The first insurance run arrived in the top of the seventh, coming when
Karson Krowka walked and then stole both second and third, setting himself up to be brought in on a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Jarrett Flaggert. They would then add two more in the ninth, which happened on one play when on a double steal from Krowka and
Jayden Reynolds, Texas State catcher Clayton Namken threw the ball well into left field, allowing both to come across in one fell swoop.
This scoring would end up giving A&M-Corpus Christi all the runs it would need to take things to the finish line, leaning on a trio of arms to work the final three frames of the game. The first of these was
Bryson Shea, who entered for the first time in two weeks and sat down the Bobcats in 1-2-3 fashion.
Easten Smith then got the eighth, and after loading the bases with just one out, the righty beared down, allowing a run to score but limiting the damage to just that with a fielder's choice groundout and a flyout to strand a pair of runners. Finally,
Kade Budd was tasked with getting the final three outs, and he managed to do so in order, starting the ninth with a popout and then capping things off with a groundball double play to secure the big win for the team.
The offensive effort for the Islanders on the day ended up being very balanced, as seven of the 11 players who took an at-bat managed to record a hit. This group was led by Stark, who got the assignment in the cleanup spot for the first time this year and proceeded to go 3-4 with a double and an RBI to make it four multi-hit performances in his last five games. Stark's two-bagger was one of five extra-base hits on the day, with Azemar sending out the biggest hit with his two-run blast and Smith-Johnson, Barron and
Matt Evans also getting on the board with doubles of their own.
The Islanders will now head into their biggest series of the season to date over the weekend, welcoming Houston Christian to town starting on Friday at 6 p.m. for three games that have massive implications toward the Southland Conference standings.
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