PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team bounced back in the second game of its current road trip on Wednesday afternoon, coming alive with the bats to earn its second win of the season over Prairie View A&M by a run-rule final of 14-4.
The win helped the Islanders (15-17) secure the series sweep of the Panthers (6-25), having already downed their in-state SWAC opponents 9-2 back on February 24 at Chapman Field. It also marked their sixth in a row in the all-time series dating back to last year, outscoring Prairie View 67-25 in total in those games.
After falling in an early 2-0 hole in the opening frame, the Islanders got their offensive explosion started in earnest not long after, getting their first three runs in the top of the second and then scoring at least one in every inning for the rest of the contest. They first got onto the scoreboard without even having to record a hit, loading the bases on a
Hunter Azemar hit by pitch and back-to-back walks from
Jarrett Flaggert and
Karson Krowka before
Christian Smith-Johnson came up and also got hit on the first pitch of his plate appearance, allowing Azemar to stroll in from third. With the bases still loaded,
Jayden Reynolds then started off what was a monster individual day for him, slapping a base hit through the left side to plate two more and give the team the lead for the first time.
A&M-Corpus Christi then followed this up in an even bigger way, plating three more in the third and one in the fourth to make it seven unanswered runs in total. The former started off on a triple from
Jackson Smith and a walk drawn by
Isaiah Afework, which
Matt Evans then followed up with a double on a high chopper over the head of the third baseman that brought Smith home. Afework would score next on an RBI groundout by Azemar, and Evans would come around immediately after on a wild pitch to cap off the scoring in that inning. In the following frame, a Smith-Johnson walk and a Reynolds sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position, and
Cade Sanchez cashed in with a double into the right center gap to bring the Islanders' advantage up to five.
The Panthers finally managed to stop the bleeding by getting back on the board with two in the bottom of the fourth, but from here, the Islanders continued to plug away in the box, first with a four-run fifth for their highest scoring inning of the day. Reynolds drove home the first run with another single, which was then followed up by what ended up as a double steal on a failed pickoff attempt that allowed Smith-Johnson to race home. Finally, Smith capped off this inning with a two-RBI single of his own, scoring both Reynolds and Sanchez to bring the team into double digits on the day.
The last runs on the day for the Islanders came in the form of two in the sixth on a knock from
Jake Barron off the bench and one in the seventh on a
Max Towchik hit that put them officially in run-rule territory.
Nathan Mueller and
Matthew Molina were then summoned to close the door on things, which they did in strong fashion, with the former punching out three in the bottom of the sixth and the latter working a clean final frame to secure the dominant victory.
A&M-Corpus Christi totaled 13 hits on the day, with Reynolds leading the way by going 4-4 with five RBI out of the leadoff spot. This tied for the team lead for hits in any single game this year with himself and
Cade Sanchez, and it was the first time any Islander drove in at least five runs in a game since
Chance Reisdorph tallied six back on April 27, 2024. Beyond him, Smith picked up three knocks and two RBIs out of the third spot in the order, and Evans rounded out the multi-hit days with by going 2-5 while also scoring two runs.
The Islanders will now continue their road trip over the weekend, making the trip across state lines to take on Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond for a three-game series starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
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