Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
`Jacks Drop Series Finale To Islanders
4/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The SFA bullpen did not allow an earned run in four innings of work, but Bryant Sparkman was the answer in relief for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the Islanders captured the series finale, 8-6, at Chapman Field on Saturday.
The `Jacks (13-19, 6-11 SLC) have now lost six out of seven games to the Islanders (13-21, 5-13 SLC) dating back to last season.
Sean Meyers finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and his fourth home run of the season, but rarely had an RBI opportunity as the top two spots in the SFA lineup only made it on base one time on the day.
Jared West, Chris Court and Alex Moshier combined to allow only two hits and no earned runs in five innings of relief, but Jared Schrom took the loss after allowing five earned runs in only three innings on eight hits.
The Islanders got a six-strikeout start from Andrew Toppert, but it was Bryant Sparkman that quieted the SFA bats as he allowed only two hits and no runs in 3.2 innings of relief to earn his first win on the year. Trey Hernandez finished with two strikeouts in taking his second save of the series.
SFA took a 1-0 lead for the third straight game early on, taking advantage of a botched strikeout of Justin Long and a pair of errors to get Long across on an RBI infield single from Joe Staley.
But the Islanders crossed the plate seven times over the next three innings, starting with a two-run second on a sacrifice fly from Ernie Olivarez and a single from Jacob Perales. The `Jacks added an RBI single from Meyers that scored Jeffrey Kello in the third to tie it up again, but a three-run inning by the Islanders that had them score twice on sacrifice flies and once on a wild pitch pushed the lead back to 5-2.
Kello picked up an RBI with his second double of the day for SFA one inning later, but once again the Islanders answered with a multi-run inning. Jared West came on in relief one batter into the fourth, but an error from Kello extended the inning and Jeramie Marek delivered his third hit of the day with a two-out, bases-loaded single through the right side that finally gave TAMUCC some cushion at 7-3.
However, SFA made a charge just one inning later, beginning with Meyers' home run to lead things off. Two batters later Long reached on a single and scored when Olivarez couldn't field a routine grounder from Bo Coffman. Joe Staley followed with a double to right field to put runners at second and third. Adam Bosley followed with a run-scoring grounder before Islander shortstop Brycen Bell made a game-changing play when he dove to save a game-tying single from Kello in the hole at short and got him at first for the final out.
Court and Moshier then combined for 3.0 innings of scoreless relief, including Court pitching out of a situation with nobody out and runners on second and third in the sixth that included a controversial call at third on a chopper by Jonathan Reyes, keeping the `Jacks within a run at 7-6.
TAMUCC added an unearned run in the eighth for a cushion, but SFA still made a run to tie it in the ninth. However, Hernandez struck out Coffman with a pair of runners on to shut the door.
SFA hits the road again on Tuesday when they take on Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. followed by a doubleheader the following day against UTPA on Wednesday. The `Jacks then travel to Lake Charles, La., to take on McNeese State beginning Friday.
-SFA-
