HOUSTON, Tx – HCU falls to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in game one, 12-7, of the three-game conference series at Husky Field.

The Huskies (8-29, 5-8 SLC) were led by junior designated hitter Samuel Benjamin who went 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBIs, two runs, and a walk. Freshman center fielder Trent Baker went 3-for-5 with a run while freshman right fielder Damian Ruiz went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI. Junior third baseman Reed Chumley went 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, a run, and a walk.

Junior righthander Rye Gunter (1-3) took the loss, pitching five innings to start the game allowing four earned runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Redshirt freshman righthander Justin Barry-Smith pitched .2 shutout innings of relief giving up one hit.

The Islanders (19-22, 7-6 SLC) were led by Christian Smith-Johnson who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Tre Jones went 2-for-4 with a double, three runs, and a walk. Chance Reisdorph went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs, an RBI, and two walks.

Matthew Watson (4-3) earned the win for the Islanders, pitching seven innings to start the game, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

The Huskies got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when William Jewell scored on a sac fly off the bat of Samuel Benjamin. HCU added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Reed Chumley homered to left field scoring Benjamin. The Huskies scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning starting with a Damian Ruiz double to left center scoring Diego Davila before Benjamin homered to right field scoring Ruiz and Trent Baker.

The Islanders scored their first run in the top of the second inning when Sean Curtis hit a sac fly to right field scoring Tre Jones. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scored another run in the top of the third inning when Chance Reisdorph singled up the middle scoring Leo Markotic. The Islanders posted three runs in the top of the sixth inning starting with a Christian Smith-Johnson single to right field scoring Max Puls before Reisdorph scored on an RBI-walk by Curtis. Jones scored the last run of the inning when former Husky Sebastian Trinidad singled to left center. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi added two runs in the top of the eighth inning when Diego Johnson singled to center field scoring Curtis and Smith-Johnson. The Islanders tacked on five runs in the top of the ninth inning starting with a Smith-Johnson single through the left side scoring Reisdorph before Trinidad reached on an fielding error by HCU's Austin Roccaforte scoring Jones. Markotic walked scoring Smith-Johnson before Diego Johnson hit a sac fly to right field scoring Curtis. The Islanders scored their last run of the game when Brendan Ryan singled up the middle scoring Trinidad.

The Huskies will return to action for game two of the three-game conference series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Husky Field on Saturday, April 29^th at 1 p.m.