Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scratched across two runs in the eighth inning and held off a Houston Baptist rally in the ninth to claim a 5-4 decision Wednesday night at Chapman Field.
 
Junior first baseman Mike Chamberlain went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for the Huskies (9-13-1), while senior second baseman Josh Foust also went 3-for-4 and scored a run. Sophomore third baseman Curtis Jones was 2-for-4 and drove in a pair, and senior leftfielder Luke Clements was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Junior rightfielder Jordan McCoy went 2-for-4 and scored a run and has reached safely in all 23 games this season.
 
Stafford Brantley went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Islanders (14-11), while Brandon Tierney and Jonathan Gonzales also had two hits. Brad Porras singled, scored twice and drove in a run.
 
Sophomore righthander Ross Kennell (2-2) pitched his second-straight complete game for HBU, but took the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits, struck out seven and walked two in eight innings.
 
Franco Pace (1-0) picked up the win for TAMU-CC, pitching a perfect eighth inning, while Jacob Dorris earned his fifth save, despite giving up two hits in the ninth. Islanders starter O'Shea Dumas allowed one run on seven hits in four innings.
 
TAMU-CC struck first as Cody Stephens led off with an infield single and went to second on a wild pitch. After Eric Weiss walked and Gonzales singled to load the bases, Porras lifted a sacrifice fly to right to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
 
HBU answered in the top of the third, when Foust led off with an infield single and moved to second on junior shortstop CJ Jarvis' sacrifice bunt. Clements followed with an RBI single to right to tie the game, 1-1.
 
Porras singled with one out in the fourth for the Islanders, then Dominic Lopez flied out for the second out. Brantley singled, then Tierney was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Russell Vaughan walked to plate the go-ahead run.
 
The Huskies answered back in the top of the fifth, when McCoy was hit by a pitch with one out. Gonzalez singled to center, but sophomore catcher Samm Wiggins struck out for the second out. Chamberlain came through with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game, then Jones ripped a two-run single to center to give HBU a 4-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Weiss tripled and scored on a wild pitch for TAMU-CC to cut HBU's lead to 4-3.
 
Gonzales led off the bottom of the eighth with a double for the Islanders, then Porras reached on an error and pinch runner Kyle Danford was able to score the tying run. Brantley singled up the middle to score Porras and put TAMU-CC ahead, 5-4.
 
HBU mounted a two-out rally in the ninth, with Clements and McCoy singling and Gonzalez being hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Wiggins flied out to center to end the game.
 
The Huskies return to action when they travel to face another future Southland Conference rival, Stephen F. Austin, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Nacogdoches, Texas.