Islanders Takes First Game Of Three-Game Series
For a team that is in eighth place in the Southland Conference, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders sure did not play like a team that has batted .234 and has scored a total of 143 runs for the year.
They went on to defeat the Sam Houston State Bearkats by the score of to take the first game of a three game series.
It was the first time since March 16 that the Bearkats lost the first game of a series.
The Bearkats (29-12 overall, 17-5 SLC) struck first in the bottom of the first inning on a two out, two-run single by third baseman Kevin Miller to make it 2-0.
Colt Atwood led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and advanced to third on a single by Ryan O’Hearn that went up the middle. O’Hearn stole second base after the strike out by designated hitter Anthony Azar to put runners in scoring position.
Both runners scored on Miller’s single.
Eric Weiss reached first on an error by short stop Corey Toups with one out in the top of the fourth inning. That was the first base.runner that reached base all game. However, starting pitching Caleb Smith got the next two outs to end the inning.
It seemed as if Smith was on his way to pitch a no-hitter as in the first four innings, he struck out four and got most of the outs on either fly outs or ground outs.
But the Islanders (16-24 overall, 9-12 SLC) had something to say about it in the top of the fifth inning as they exploded for three runs to take their first lead 3-2.
Brad Porras started the rally when he hit a home run that went over the scoreboard that cut the Bearkat lead to 2-1.
They would score two more runs on a RBI single by Westin Montgomery and a sacrifice fly by Eric Weiss that gave the Islanders the lead.
The Bearkats had something going in the bottom of the fifth inning when both Atwood and O’Hearn each drew a walk. Both runners advanced to second and third, respectively on a ground out by Azar.
But starting pitcher Trevor Foss got the next two outs to end the threat.
The Islanders capitalized and extend their lead to 4-2 on a RBI double by Porras that hit off the center field wall.
They added another run in the top of the seventh inning to increase their lead to 5-2.
The Bearkats had their best chance in the bottom of the seventh inning when Toups led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Atwood that drop in front of center fielder Weiss.
However, the Islanders got the next three outs to get out of the jam and end the Bearkat threat.
The Bearkats left a total of 9 runners on base and the 3-4-5 hitters went 1 for 12 in the game.
“We left some guys in scoring position,” head coach David Pierce said. “We struggled in the middle of the line up tonight.”
“He (Foss) had a good breaking ball and we had a hard time laying off of it. We’ll learn from it and move on.”
Foss pitched six total innings and got his first win of the season while Smith took the loss. Reliever Philip Garcia got his fifth save of the season.
The second game of the series will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
