CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – KC Simonich hit his first homer as a Privateer to help lead New Orleans to a 7-6 win in the first game of a Friday doubleheader against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. The Islanders rallied for a 6-4 win in the back end of the doubleheader.
The win in the first game moved Blake Dean into a tie with Randy Bush for career wins. Coach Dean picked up his 144th career victory.
TIEBREAKER
In the first game, the Privateers got to the eighth inning tied at 3-3. After a leadoff walk, Simonich was up and got to a 1-0 count. He then drove a ball to deep right that cleared the fence for his first home run to put New Orleans up a pair. Later in the frame, Kasten Furr added some more insurance with a two-run double.
The Islanders made it very interesting with a three-run homer by Nick Mueller to cut the Privateer lead to one. However, Caleb Seroski induced a ground ball out to end the inning and give the Privateers the first two games of the series.
TURP ADDS TO STRIKEOUT TOTAL
Chris Turpin got the ball and went seven innings while recording eight strikeouts to just one walk. The Southland leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio struck out the side in the second inning. He also recorded back-to-back strikeouts in the sixth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Islanders got a first inning run from Brendan Ryan. He reached on an error and was brough home on a Justin Taylor sac fly. After the Privateers briefly moved ahead in the top of the third, the Islanders plated two runs to take the lead back 3-2.
The score stayed that way until the sixth inning. Pearce Howard drew a leadoff walk and got to second on a wild pitch. He came in three batters later on a Salo Iza RBI single to tie the score at 3-3.
ISLANDERS WIN GAME TWO
The Privateers built a 4-0 lead through three innings but a late rally helped the Islanders avoid a sweep. They scored two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to move ahead for good. The Islanders worked four walks and got a hit batter in the frame. Two of those occurred with the bases loaded.
New Orleans got the lead on four hits as part of a three-run second. The capper was Darren Willis’ RBI triple. The Privateers added another run on a Luther Woullard RBI double.
NEXT UP
The series closes on Saturday with a first pitch set for 1 p.m.
{Press release courtesy of UNO Athletics}