March 12, 2005

Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI - In Texas State's last two baseball games in Corpus Christi, Bobcat batters have turned a corner, of sorts, in the batters box.

For the second straight day, at least three Bobcats left the yard with home runs in Saturday's 16-5 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Texas State put the heat on Islander pitching early, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. After a pair of one-out walks to Nolan Mast and Kyle Anson, Heath Keel gave the Bobcats their early lead by clearing the bases with a shot to right center field. Kyle Jones scored Texas State's fourth first-inning run on a fielding error by Islander shortstop Jaime Landin.

A&M-Corpus Christi answered the Bobcats' first inning by scoring one run in the home half on Jason Graham's RBI single to right field, but that's as close as the Islanders would get in a game that belonged to Texas State's offense.

The Bobcat second began with a pair of singles followed by a Mast's triple that plated Doug Pearce and Dominic Ramos. Texas State's scored three more in the top of the third, sparked by Ramos' one-out single to left. The long ball came back for the Bobcats in the fourth, as Anson dropped a solo homer to lead off the inning, and Rodriguez followed with a one-out, two-run shot that plated Keel. Through four innings, the Bobcats led 12-1.

Texas State again got on the board in the eighth with three runs brought home by a pair of bases-loaded walks and a ground ball out to the right side of the infield. The Islanders had their big inning in the eighth, scoring four runs and knocking Bobcat starter Bobby Sawicki out of the game. Sawicki finished with 7.1 innings pitched, four earned runs and three strike outs, moving the senior hurler just 33 fanned batsmen away from the all-time Texas State strike out crown.

Sawicki also picked up his first win of the season, pushing his record to 1-2 while Adam Bruce took the loss for the Islanders, dropping him to 1-2 on the season. The win improved Texas State's record to 13-6, while the loss dropped the Islanders to 13-9-1.

Eight Bobcat batters recorded at least one hit, with eight also driving home a run in the ballgame. The offense was sparked by Ramos, going three-for-six with two RBI and a run scored, while Mast continued to sizzle at the plate, going two-for-five with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Keel led the Bobcat RBI charge with three, hitting his second home run in as many days. The game was a break out for Pearce, who doubled his season hit total by going two-for-five, recording his first two RBI and runs scored of the season. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Jason Graham tallied four RBI in his two-for-four performance for the Islanders.

The Bobcats and Islanders will hit the field again Sunday, in the series rubber match at 1 p.m., at Islander Field in Corpus Christi.