Box Score

HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats had an early lead, but the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders took advantage of early chances to pull out an 8-4 win in the series opener on Saturday evening at Don Sanders Stadium.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (29-20, 13-12 SLC) did not have an extra-base hit in the game, but was the benefactor of four infield hits and four Bearkat (24-19, 14-8 SLC) errors in the game. The Islanders also drew seven walks and were hit by a pitch four times, using that to fuel a win that snapped a nine-game Bearkat win streak in the all-time series.

The Kats looked strong early on as Hunter Hearn delivered a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning that gave Sam Houston a 2-1 lead, but after getting three hits in that frame, the SHSU bats were held to just one infield hit of their own until putting up a pair of runs with two outs in the ninth.

Islander sophomore John Gaddis was strong in his start, punching out nine hitters in just 5.0 innings to move to 4-3 on the year. He gave way to three more arms who totaled 16 strikeouts in the game.

Hayden Wesneski took a tough loss, just his second losing decision of the year, despite having only four balls off the Islander bats leave the infield. He allowed six runs – five earned – and struck out three in working into the sixth inning.

Riley McKnight was the only Bearkat with multiple hits in the game, tripling home a run in the ninth. Jordan Cannon also added an RBI single in that inning.

UP NEXT

The teams will wrap up the series on Sunday with a pair of games beginning at 11 a.m. at Don Sanders Stadium.