Buckner's Walk-off Homer Keeps Islanders Alive in Southland Tournament
SAN MARCOS, Texas - The game appeared to be headed for extra innings, but Bobby Buckner had other ideas. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Islanders third baseman took an 0-2 pitch and bounced it off the top of the fence in right-center field to lift No. 3 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a 2-1 victory over No. 6 seed UTSA in an elimination game of the Southland Conference tournament.
The home run was his first of the year and kept the Islanders (36-23) alive in the tournament. They will face No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin Friday at 4 p.m. for the right to go to the championship game on Saturday. A&M-Corpus Christi needs two wins to make the title game for the first time in school history. The Lumberjacks can get there with just one win.
UTSA, which defeated the Islanders 3-2 in 10 innings to open the tournament on Wednesday, struck in the top of the second inning Friday, turning a lead-off base hit by Ryan Dalton into the game's first run. After he stole second he got to third on an infielder grounder and then scored on a single through the right side by Mike Warren.
The Islanders got on the board in the bottom of the third. Jeramie Marek drew a two-out walk and went to third on a single by Matt Holland. Trey Hernandez doubled in Marek to tie the game. UTSA avoided further damage when Daniel Rockett chased down a ball at the right-center field wall for the final out of the inning.
The score remained knotted until the final pitch, but the Islanders had a chance in the bottom of the seventh. They loaded the bases for Trey Hernandez, the team's first-team all-conference selection, but Roadrunner reliever Kevin Clarke struck him out to prevent any damage.
Clarke had come into the game just three batters earlier for starter Blake Denman. Clarke was tagged with the loss (3-5) despite allowing just two hits in his 2.1 innings. He got Caleb Marx to fly out and Santiago Ruiz to ground out in the ninth before Buckner's wind-aided shot.
Buckner finished 2-for-5 in the game and was the only Islander with two hits. The top six in the lineup provided all of A&M-Corpus Christi's seven hits. UTSA had nine hits in the game, getting two hits from Rockett, Matthew James, Ryan Dalton.
Justin Meza started the game for the Islanders and pitched a full eight innings before handing the ball to Tanner Green in the ninth. Green gave up a lead-off hit to Rockett, but got a foul out and caught Rockett's attempted steal of second before getting a ground out. Green got his second win of the season against no losses. Meza fanned nine and allowed the Roadrunners lone run on eight hits in his eight innings.
UTSA ended its season with a 27-32 record.
Game Nine Quotes
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Coach Scott Malone
"I'm positive; I believe, but when he gets behind two strikes I started to plan the next inning. I didn't see it. I didn't see it go out. I glanced and saw the center fielder turn his back as if to play it off the wall. I couldn't believe it. That's the first time this year they snuck one in on me. Justin Meza did great. We bring that little freshman Tanner Green in a one-run game and I thought he was excellent. I'm really proud of these guys and I still don't think we've played our best offensive game. If we get the bats going we'll be tough to beat."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Third Baseman Bobby Buckner
"I really just wanted to get on base. I got down 0-2 and he threw me a change up on the first pitch. I thought he would come back with it down two strikes and he left it up a little bit and I just got it; thank God the wind was blowing."
UTSA Coach Sherman Corbett
"Tough way to end a season. I thought Blake Denman and Kevin Clarke did an outstanding job on the mound. We just weren't offensive enough to push some runs across when we needed to. Give them credit, the guy made a good swing on not that good of a pitch on 0-2. Give them credit for their battling. Tough way to end the season.