CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team was defeated in the second of three games this weekend against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday evening, doing well to hang in during the middle and late portions of the contest but failing to overcome a tough start and falling by a final score of 13-9.
The Islanders (13-16, 3-10 SLC) were forced to stare down an incredibly tough climb back into the game following the very first frame of the day, as they were blitzed to the tune of seven runs from the Lumberjacks (18-14, 9-5 SLC) before recording their first three outs. This task began for the hosts in the bottom of the first, as they managed to respond with back-to-back home runs in their first time up on consecutive pitches from
Cade Sanchez and
Jackson Smith, both solo shots to cut the deficit to a more manageable five. This was the third homer of the year for both infielders, and for Sanchez, it extended his hitting streak to 17 games, moving him into a tie with Matt Holland for the fifth-longest in program history.
A&M-Corpus Christi then continued to chip away, getting back on the board in the third with three more runs to move back within striking distance. A base hit by
Isaiah Afework got things going in this frame, and after advancing to second on a wild pitch, he was brought home on a base hit into right by
Matt Evans on a 3-2 count. This was then followed by a double off the bat of
Jarrett Flaggert, which placed runners on second and third for
Hunter Azemar, who cashed in with two outs by sending a ground rule double over the fence in left center to plate both and bring the score to 7-5.
Now firmly back in the game, the Islanders saw SFA get its bats heated back up, with the visitors scoring two in both the fourth and fifth to rebuild their lead back up to six. Like they did earlier, though, A&M-Corpus Christi punched right back, started with an immediate response in the bottom of the fifth on another single by Evans that plated Afework on the throw back into the infield. After this came two more runs in the sixth, with both coming on a base knock from Sanchez that brought in
Austin Russell and
Karson Krowka after they had both reached scoring position on a walk and a double respectively.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, though, they could not keep the Lumberjacks off the scoreboard, allowing another two runs in the seventh to see their deficit grow back up to five. They did manage to tally one more run on the day on another longball from Smith with one out in the ninth, but they could not make their way any closer, coming up short despite the spirited fight they showed at the plate.
Smith had the biggest day for anyone in either lineup on Friday, tallying the first multi-homer game for an Islander since he himself did so back on April 13 of last year in a home game against Southeastern. Additionally, he was one of five A&M-Corpus Christi players to record multiple hits in the game alongside Afework – who paced the team with three – Sanchez, Evans and Azemar, with he, Sanchez and Azemar also getting on the board with multiple RBIs. On the mound, the best effort came from
Kade Budd, who worked 2.1 hitless innings while punching out three hitters.
The Islanders will now return to Chapman Field for the finale of the series with SFA on Saturday, getting underway at 2 p.m. looking to avoid the sweep.
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