| Senior Trent Lockwood launched his 14th home run of the year on Wednesday. |
HUNTSVILLE ? Omar Gutierrez grinded out six innings and four Texas A&M-Corpus Christi batters had three hits apiece to lead the eighth-seeded Islanders to a 7-5 upset victory against No. 1 seed UTSA in first-day action at the Southland Conference Tournament.
A&M-Corpus Christi, which defeated the Roadrunners for the third time this month, ended a five-game winless streak and improved to 23-31-1 on the year, while UTSA lost for the fourth time in the last five contests to drop to 38-18.
Gutierrez (6-4) shut down the powerful Roadrunners offense for the second time in the last three weeks. He allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits and struck out seven in the grueling, 139-pitch performance. The 5-foot-9, 225-pound right-hander has allowed six runs and fanned 21 hitters in 15 innings of work (277 pitches) against UTSA this season.
He was backed by a 17-hit attack, the second-most allowed by the Birds this season. Bryan Gerondale led the way, going 3-for-4 with his fifth homer of the year, a two-run shot with two down in the third, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Trey Hernandez, Martin Parra and Chase Williams each added three safeties and Hernandez had two RBIs.
Righty Bryant Sparkman, who came on in the ninth with a runner on second and two out, survived an error by shortstop Marc Carrion and got sophomore third baseman Ryan Rummel to hit into a fielder's choice to end the game for his second save of the year.
Senior righty Bradley Chovanec (9-4) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Seniors Zach Etheredge and Trent Lockwood both had three hits for the Roadrunners. Lockwood hit his 14th long ball of the year, a solo shot with two down in the seventh and he drove in a pair of runners to increase his UTSA single-season record to 73.
A Lockwood double with two out in the first brought home junior Michael Rockett with the game's first run. The lead swelled to two one inning later when Etheredge lined a base hit through the left side to bring home junior Jose Hernandez, who reached on an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error by Ernie Olivarez.
Gerondale's homer tied the game at two, but the Birds reclaimed the lead in the fourth on junior James Keithley's two-out RBI single down the left-field line.
A&M-Corpus Christi moved in front for the first time with a two-spot in the fifth and extended the advantage to 7-3 with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
The Roadrunners will play in the tournament's second elimination game at noon on Thursday against Northwestern State (28-27).
Day 1 scoreboard
#3 Texas State 22, #6 UT Arlington 2 (7 innings)
#2 Lamar 8, #7 Southeastern Louisiana 7
#8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7, #1 UTSA 5
#4 Sam Houston State 7, #5 Northwestern State 1
Friday's schedule
Southeastern Louisiana (29-26) vs. UT Arlington (26-30), 9 a.m.
Northwestern State (28-27) vs. UTSA (38-18), noon
Texas State (30-25) vs. Lamar (33-21), 4 p.m.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-31-1) vs. Sam Houston State (34-23), 7 p.m.