Stephen F. Austin
A&M-Corpus Christi
Islanders Strike Often in 4-3 Win Over 'Jacks
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Stephen F. Austin 3
Chapman Field * Corpus Christi, Texas
Records: SFA (8-19, 3-7 SLC); A&M-CC (11-11, 3-5 SLC)
Up Next: at A&M-Corpus Christi * Sunday, Mar. 29 * 1 p.m.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Stephen F. Austin built the early lead on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but a three-run sixth inning and a dominant pitching performance by the Islanders proved to be too much as the Lumberjacks fell 4-3 at Chapman Field.
SFA falls to 8-19 on the year and 3-7 in Southland Conference play while A&M-Corpus Christi snaps a six-game losing skid, improving to 11-11 on the year and 3-5 in SLC action.
Taking the momentum from Friday night's 7-2 victory into Saturday's affair, SFA notched the first run of the game in the top of the second inning off a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Boxwell, scoring Garrett McMullen from third. The Lumberjacks then extended that advantage to 2-0 in the third inning off an RBI ground out from Dan O'Neill which brought home Hunter Wilson.
A&M-Corpus Christi got one back in the bottom of the fourth, thanks in part to a throwing error on the Lumberjacks, SFA's first of two on the day. The Islanders were then able to manufacture three runs in the bottom of the sixth off a pair of hits and another 'Jack error, putting SFA in a two-run hole at 4-2.
SFA struggled to reach base in the seventh and eighth, but had a chance to pull ahead in the top half of the ninth. With two on and one out, Eric DeJesus singled past the shortstop, bringing home Kyle Thornell and keeping two runners on. SFA utilized the sac bunt to advance two runners into scoring position, but a two-out strikeout ended the threat, the 14th of the day for A&M-Corpus Christi.
Islander starter Trevor Belicek kept SFA batters confused all day, notching a career-high 13 strikeouts while allowing two runs on six hits in eight innings pitched. Dillon Mangham took the loss for SFA, allowing four runs (two earned) on just four hits with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. The reliever duo of Josh Keith and Chris Hassold came on and did their job, keeping A&M-Corpus Christi hitless over the final 2.2 innings with a strikeout each.
The Lumberjacks finished with nine hits on the day as Nick Ramos and Thornell each recorded three off their respective bats. DeJesus, Matthew Dickey and Conner Fikes recorded the final three as SFA out-hit A&M-Corpus Christi 9-6. But the 14 Lumberjack strikeouts, compared with just seven for the Islanders, proved to play a key role as SFA continues to search for that elusive back-to-back win.
SFA will try and claim its first SLC series of the season Sunday, playing the rubber match against A&M-Corpus Christi. Jarred Greene (1-3, 4.91 ERA) is slated to get the start for the 'Jacks with the first pitch scheduled to be thrown at 1 p.m.
-SFA-
