HUNTSVILLE ? After being out-scored 26-8 in the first two games of their Southland Conference baseball series with Sam Houston, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders prevented a sweep with a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium.
The contest was the final regular season game of the year for both teams. Sam Houston (32-22, SLC 18-14) now advances to the Southland Conference post-season tournament which begins Wednesday in Corpus Christi.
The Bearkats will be the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will played the No. 2 seed in the 12 noon game Wednesday.
TAMUCC (18-38 SLC 9-24) did not qualify for post-season play. Brandon Orr (2-6) was the winning pitcher for the Islanders, working three innings in relief. SHSU starter Brent Powers (3-2) took the loss.
Right fielder Jacob Perales doubled then scored on a single up the middle by first baseman Weston Montgomery to start the scoring for the Islanders in the top of the third.
Held scoreless for the first three innings, Sam Houston struck quickly in the bottom of the fourth inning as shortstop Jon Reed led off with a single, then scored on a double by catcher Mark Wyatt. One out later, Wyatt scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by first baseman Daniel Nottebart.
Second baseman Ernie Olivarez tied the game with a solo home run to left field in the top of the fifth. The Islanders added two more runs to go up 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI double by catcher Stephen Flores and a run-scoring single by third baseman Martin Parra.
Center fielder Adam DeLaGarza cut the Islander lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the seven. DeLaGarza singled, moved to third on a single by Braeden Riley then scored on a wild pitch.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi added another run in the top of the eighth as center fielder Jeramie Marek singled and later tallied on a bases loaded ground out by Parra.
LINE SCORE
TXA&M-Corpus Christi 5, Sam Houston 3 (May 16, 2009 at Huntsville TX)
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TXA&M-Corpus Christi 001 012 010 - 5 13 1 (18-38, 9-24 SLC)
Sam Houston......... 000 200 100 - 3 10 0 (32-22, 18-14 SLC)
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Pitchers: TXA&M-Corpus Christi - Gibson, Brett; Orr, Brandon(5); Ferdin, Roy(8);
Sparkman, Bryant(8); Liedka, Jake(9). Sam Houston - Powers, Brent; Tepera, Ryan(6);
Shelton, Matt(8); Jackson, Justin(9).
Win-Orr, Brandon(2-6) Save-Liedka, Jake(2) Loss-Powers, Brent(3-2) T-2:33 A-233
HR AMCC - Olivarez, Ernie.
Tepera, R faced 2 batters in the 8th.
