CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers brought the tying run to third base in the ninth inning, but their late rally fell just short in a 5-4 loss to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sunday at Chapman Field.
The loss means the Privateers will be the 8-seed and will face Southeastern in the opening round of the Southland Tournament next Thursday.
New Orleans entered the ninth trailing 5-3 after the Islanders got two runs in their half of the eighth. Cade Sanchez scored on a wild pitch and a sac fly followed from Isaac Webb that put the Islanders ahead 5-3.
The Privateers strung together solid plate appearances in the ninth though as
Collin Husser led off with a walk and
Alexander Saunier followed two batters later with a base hit.
Matt Gonzalez walked to load the bases and
Diego Villescas hit an infield single that cut the lead to one.
However, Matthew Molina reset on the mound and got a strikeout to end the game and pick up his second save of the weekend, which put the finishing touches on the Islanders' series sweep.
New Orleans got out to an early lead when Villescas cracked a two-run homer off Islanders starter, David Dean. The Privateers kept the Islanders off the scoreboard through the first five innings as
Hayden O'Dell allowed just three hits.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got the first three men on base in the sixth though and all of them scored on a wild pitch, a base hit and a sac fly to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead.
New Orleans came back to level the score in the top of the eighth when
Bryce Calloway doubled and was later driven in by a
Tristan Moore RBI double.
Webb and Logan Vaughan led the Islander offense with two hits each. The teams matched hit totals at nine a side.
INSIDE THE BOX
Villescas went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Moore and Saunier each added two hits to the team total. Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with two walks. O'Dell struck out six batters and threw 94 pitches on the day.
NEXT UP
The conference tournament begins on Thursday in Hammond. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. against Southeastern.
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