Box Score
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS – Junior left-hander
Jordan Hymel (3-1) allowed just one run in 7.2 innings Saturday as Southeastern Louisiana defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-1.
Saturday's game was in stark contrast to the marathon series opener that went 12 innings and lasted almost five hours. The pitching of Hymel played a big role in the pacing of the series' second game.
Hymel surrendered six hits and a pair of walks, but also struck out seven batters en route to picking up the win for Southeastern (15-5, 3-2 Southland). Sophomore
Dylan Hills, a Ponchatoula native, pitched the final 1.1 innings for his second save of the season.
The Islanders (9-10, 2-3 Southland) took the early lead with a first-inning run. Drew Vest reached on a one-out infield single and advanced to second when Eric Weiss drew a walk. Cleanup hitter Kyle Danford followed up with a single to right field for the RBI.
Southeastern answered with a run in the second to tie the game. Designated hitter
Britt Gautreaux singled up the middle to lead off the inning and
Brett Hoffman followed up with an infield single. Shortstop
Ben Hernandez sacrificed the runners to second and third. With one out,
Harry Slade hit a chopper to short to drive in Gautreaux.
In the fifth inning,
Ladd Rhodes drew a one-out walk.
Brock Hebert hit a fly ball that went off the tip of left fielder Omar Garcia's glove for a three-base error, allowing Rhodes to score from first.
Jonathan Pace hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Hebert for the 3-1 lead.
Hebert (14 games) and Pace (12 games) each extended their hitting streaks with first inning singles and Hebert picked up his nation-leading 19th stolen base of the season in the seventh.
First pitch for the series finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday at Chapman Field. Senior right-hander
Josh Janway (2-0, 1.23) will be opposed by Louisville Slugger's reigning National Player of the Week Daniel Minor (3-1, 1.29). The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and live statistics, courtesy the Islanders, are available at
www.LionSports.net.
