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Corpus Christi, TX Weather

Islanders Come Out Swinging in Longhorns' First Trip to South Texas

Isles come up short in tussle with Longhorns

by Lee Goddard, Corpus Christi Caller~Times
March 7, 2007

When push came to shove, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team came out swinging at the plate.  But, for the Islanders, the shoving started a little too late.

In the much-hyped matchup with Texas, the Longhorns scored in every inning but one in taking a 10-6 victory behind Travis Tucker's career-high 5 RBI in front of a crowd of 7,002 at Whataburger Field.  A&M-Corpus Christi expressed remorse at an opportunity lost but, at the same time, a brief scuffle served to fire up the team.

With 12th-ranked Texas (13-6) up by six runs entering the bottom of the eighth, the Islanders Jason Graham reached on error.  On a pickoff throw to first, Graham went back to the bag.  It appeared he was tangled with first baseman Chance Wheeless.

Then a couple of shoves were traded.  The Longhorns stayed in place, but some A&M-Corpus Christi players emerged from the dugout, and a couple trotted in from the bullpen.  Nothing more happened.

"I went in and stepped on the bag and the guy thought I cleated him," said Graham, who was ejected along with Wheeless.  "He was leaning on me, so I pushed him off.  He tried to throw a violent push and missed.  I moved back and was going to swing on him, but coach (Eric) Gonzalez got in the way.

"It was that and a lot of talk.  It was two pushes and that was it.  I thought he provoked the thing."

It seemed to stir the Islanders.  While A&M-Corpus Christi (12-6) had scored three runs in the third to tie the game, the Islanders put up three more in the eighth.  Four of the team's 11 hits followed the dustup.

"We don't let anyone come in and disrespect us," Graham said. "They're a good team, but that's all.  They're not going to push us around.  The guys out there had my back.  They came out swinging."

Swinging the bats, that is.  Had the team been swinging sooner, the game could have been more interesting toward the end.

Still, no hard feelings.

"There was a lot of bantering going on, a lot of chattering going on between the players," Longhorns coach Augie Garrido said.  "There were a lot of things that probably weren't very noticeable.  The Islanders were battling their (tails) off.  They wanted to win the game.  They put everything they had into it."

A&M-Corpus Christi also wasted a decent effort from starter Emerson Trager (3-2), who gave up five runs - two earned - and eight hits in five innings of work.  Overall, Trager liked his outing, and his teammates agreed.

"A team like UT will capitalize on your mistakes," said Islanders catcher Josh Plumaj, who had an RBI after Graham's ejection.  "Emerson threw a heck of a game.  You take out a few of the defensive miscues and mental mistakes, and it's a different ballgame.  When Emerson fights his butt off on the mound when the defense is struggling, he picked us up."

It was the little things that irritated A&M-Corpus Christi coach Gene Salazar.  He cited missed signs, mental breakdowns and, of course, the unearned runs as problem points.

Salazar also felt the team showed timidity at the start, though definitely not at the close.

"I think we held back early," Salazar said.  "You can't be intimidated.  We started doing things different, not taking a certain pitch.  They're little things, but little things accumulate."

They did accumulate with three Islanders errors in the first four innings.  Still, A&M-Corpus Christi scored three in the third to tie the game.

After that, the Islanders offense was in a lull until the eighth.  Meanwhile, Tucker lashed back, driving in two runs in the fourth and two more in the seventh.  He tacked on a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Trager expressed frustration that Texas bloops landed, while the Longhorns had three defensive gems that stemmed any would-be A&M-Corpus Christi rallies.

"(The Islanders) really had a competitive edge on them that was noticeable," Garrido said.  "I think what really separated the teams in the end run was the athleticism on defense."

The edge was noticeable at the end.  The Graham affair did fire up the team.  Now, they must keep cool heads, use the momentum wisely and take care of the little things.

"They capitalize on everything.  We have to take care of the little things when playing a team like this," Trager said.  "But that brought us a little spark at the end."

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(Information courtesy of the Corpus Christi Caller~Times.  Photos by Michelle Christenson and George Tuley.)