SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi exploded for 25 runs and 31 hits to sweep a doubleheader 13-0 and 12-4 from the University of the Incarnate Word baseball team on Saturday at Sullivan Field.
The Cardinals (19-27, 10-15 SLC) came into Saturday with a six-game winning streak and having won three straight Southland Conference series, but the Islanders had other thoughts in mind after losing the series opener on Friday.
The Islanders (23-25, 13-14 SLC) took advantage of some early miscues from the Cardinals in game one. Three walks in the first three innings led to Islander runs to take a 3-0 lead and they would never look back. Aided by a spectacular outing from right-hander Matt Danton, the Islanders shutout the Cardinals and held them to six hits. Danton went eight innings, scattered six hits, and struck out 12 batters without issuing a walk.
Brandon Guilford, Tyler Ware and Zacharias Hardy provided enough offense for the Islanders in the first game. Each collected three hits and combined for seven runs and seven runs batted in.
The Cardinals pitching staff struggled to get the Islanders out and needed four pitchers to finish the game with
Garret Cooper (Round Rock/McNeil HS) tabbed with the loss. Three UIW errors led to three unearned runs for TAMUCC in the sixth inning.
Game two did not start the way the Cardinals would have hoped. Jordan Lee led off the game with an opposite field home run to give the Islanders the early lead. The Islanders were able to get to the Cardinals bullpen early after scoring six runs on 10 hits in the first four innings.
John Shull (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) came in to relieve
Kris Looper (Wharton/Wharton HS), who took the loss, and pitched three scoreless innings only allowing one hit and striking out two.
Matthew Decker (Hickory Creek/Lake Dallas HS) was the only other UIW pitcher to not allow any runs in the game. He pitched 1.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run, and struck out a batter.
Guildford added to his already terrific day with four more hits in game two to bring his total up to seven hits for the day. He also scored three runs in game two. Kyle Danford and Casey Thomas collected three hits apiece and combined for four runs and three RBI's. Lee ended the game with two hits, two runs and three RBI's.
The first run of the day for the Cardinals came in the bottom of the fifth when
Jesse Hoover (Marion/Marion HS) hit his second home run of the season into the right field netting to make it 6-1 at the time. The Islanders would then put it away with six runs in the top of the eighth before UIW pushed across three more runs in the bottom of the inning, but it would be too little, too late with the final score, 12-4.
These were the Cardinals last home games of the season and they will finish on the road with three road conference games in Abilene next weekend and a non-conference series against Omaha the weekend after that.
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