Led by a five-RBI day from Nick Anderson, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended their contest early against Houston-Victoria for the second time this year on Wednesday, dropping the Jaguars on an 11-0 run-rule after eight innings.
For the second straight night, leadoff hitter Itchy Burts drove in the first runs of the contest for the Blue and Green, on an RBI double in the third. The Islanders would add another run in the next at bat on a wild pitch, as the visitors took a 2-0 lead off of just one hit in the opening three frames.
The Islanders drew four walks in their first four frames of competition this Wednesday, with seven of Corpus Christi's nine batters reaching first during that span. After coming in to pinch run, Dustin Lacaze stole a pair of bases in the fifth, with a Harrison DiNicola walk setting up runners on the corners for Nick Anderson. Anderson worked the count full before belting a fly ball to left, that would clear the wall and give the Islanders a 5-0 lead heading to the bottom of the frame.
Two hits and a pair of Jaguar errors put another three runs on the board for the Blue and Green, as starting center fielder Dalton Stark drove in a pair of runs on a single through the right side.
The Islanders scored their final runs of the night during the top of the eighth, with Anderson once again coming up big for his side. With Enrique Sanchez Jr. and Dinicola on base, the outfielder recorded his first triple of the year to clear the bases, while crossing home on another UHV throwing error. Holding an 11-0 lead, Corpus Christi's Will Floyd and John Gaddis retired three straight batters to close out the eighth and give the Islanders another run-rule win, to outscore UH-Victoria in this season's series 21-0.
After recording his first career-win against the Jaguars earlier this year, starter Leonel Perez held UHV without a single hit through his four innings of work, striking out six batters in the process. Perez' K total fell just one short of the carer-high he set against Columbia last week, as the freshman righty faced just two over the minimum during his time on the hill.
- With nine bases on balls the Islanders set a new season-high in walks, while their four stolen bases tied the 2018-best they recorded at Oklahoma two weeks ago
- Finishing his night 2-for-4, Anderson set a new personal best with five runs driven in, while tying his all time best with three runs scored
- Dinicola and Stark both drew a team-high two walks, while the former's double in the top of the seventh extended the junior's hit streak to seven. Dinicola has slugged .920 since March 11th
- Burts is on his own hitting streak of five contests, driving in four runs over his past four appearances
- Using six arms over the course of the contest the Islanders held the Jaguars to a season-low two hits on the day. Sitting down both batters he faced, Floyd extended his streak of scoreless appearances to three, as he and his comrades combined for 10 strikeouts on the evening
COMING UP NEXT
The Islanders return to Southland play with a three game series against Northwestern State this Friday through Sunday. The Blue and Green took two of three from the Demons in 2017, outscoring NSU 26-16.