CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas _ The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the University of Central Arkansas Bears 4-3 on Friday afternoon in Southland Conference play at Chapman Field.
The Bears (19-22, 9-13) had a 3-0 lead for much of the game as junior righthander Ryan Angus tied his career high with 10 strikeouts through the first six innings, including the first three batters he faced. But the Islanders (24-21, 9-13) scored two runs off Angus in the sixth and took the lead in the seventh with two more runs, aided by a UCA error and a wild pitch.
The Bears, who left the bases loaded twice in the game, got runners to second and third with two outs in the top of the ninth inning but A&M-CC reliever Chris Pena struck out Greg Noble to end the threat.
Angus struck out the side in the first and the Bears staked him to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Senior Michael Pair singled to right field, advanced to second on a throwing error and to third on a ground out. Senior Zack Dickson hit a triple to right field, just the second of his career, to score Pair. Kyle Prevett’s base hit up the middle made it 2-0.
The Bears added their third run in the fourth inning when Jake Fuller led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Dickson’s ground out.
In the sixth inning, the Islanders got on the board with a double, a pair of walks and a triple by Logan Nottebrok. Andy Steinmetz relieved Angus in the seventh and A&M-CC got two more runs, one on a wild pitch and one on an error.
UCA, which out-hit A&M-CC 9-5, loaded the bases in the seventh inning, all with two outs, but pinch hitter Logan Moon grounded out. In the ninth inning, Bryan Willson drew a two-out walk and Doug Votolato pinch ran for him. Junior Blake Roberts hit a ball in the left-center gap that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, sending Votolato back to third.
Pair finished with two hits and Dickson had two RBI for the Bears. No player had more than one hit for the Islanders, but starting pitcher Justin Meza struck out eight. Steinmetz (1-2) was the hard-luck loser, allowing only one hit and one earned run in two innings.
Dickson and Jonathan Houston had triples to give the Bears a school-record 21 for the season.
Game 2 of the series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
