Austin Wailes did something he hasn’t done since high school against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Wailes hit an inside-the-park home run, but it wasn’t enough for UHV in an 8-5 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday night at Riverside Stadium.

Wailes circled the bases after Chase Tamez singled and Ely Gordon was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the second inning.

He hit a sinking liner with two outs that former Victoria Generals center fielder Nick Anderson dove for but couldn’t come up with.

“I was running off the bat,” Wailes said. “I was like, ‘Man, if he doesn’t make this I’m going to try and get a hustle double.’ He didn’t make the play and I saw it roll to the fence and I was like, ‘I’ve got a chance for a triple.’ And then, coach was waving and I was just going. I was running as fast as I could.”

UHV coach Terry Puhl never hesitated in sending Wailes home and he slid across the plate well ahead of the throw.

“It’s two outs and you have to make him throw him out,” Puhl said. “I was watching how the shortstop was receiving the ball. He wasn’t positioned real well. I knew it was going to be a hard throw for him.”

Wailes’ second home run of the season gave the Jaguars (12-13) a 3-1 lead, but it didn’t stand up.

The Islanders (15-8) had 12 hits against three UHV pitchers and took advantage of five errors.

Sign Up for Sports Digest Emails

“It’s consistently giving the fourth and fifth outs and they hurt you every time,” Puhl said. “We got away with it a little early in the game with some balls hit right at us. Against a quality team like that, you just can’t do that.”

Taylor and former Generals Mike Williams and Thomas Jefferies IV combined for six hits and scored four runs.

But three of the A&M-Corpus Christi’s runs were unearned.

“It’s a little bit of defense and we’ve got to make those key pitches in those tight situations,” Wailes said. “I made an error tonight and a couple of guys in the field made an error and that’s really what hurt us. Beside that, we were in that game right up to the end.”

Wailes, Victoria West graduate Garrett Harrison and Josh Fonseca each had two hits for the Jaguars, who return to Riverside Stadium for a three-game Red River Athletic Conference series against Jarvis Christian beginning Friday.

“It’s a big one,” Puhl said. “Jarvis is playing well. From what I understand, their pitching is very good. I think (LSU)-Shreveport is the best team and Jarvis is right there. We have our work cut out for this weekend.”

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 8, UHV 5

TAMUCC 011 012 201 – 8 12 0

UHV 030 000 011 – 5 9 5

Chris Glover, Tyler Miller (5), Cody LeCompte (7), David Worrell (8), Luke Malone (9), John Gaddis (9) and Justin Taylor, Trevor Beard (7). Andrew Loudermilk, Collin Quinn (6), Brandon Tipton (9) and Maxwell Sheldon, Caleb Zoda (7). W: Miller (6-3). L: Loudermilk (1-3). Highlights: (TAMUCC) Mike Williams 3-for-5, 3B, R, SB; Thomas Jeffries IV 2-for-5, R, RBI; Tyler Mendoza 1-for-1, 2 RBIs. (UHV) Austin Wailes 2-for-2, 3-run HR, 2 R; Garrett Harrison 2-for-4, RBI; Josh Fonseca 2-for-4, R. Records: TAMUCC 15-8; UHV 12-13.

Mike Forman is the sports editor of the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or by email at mforman@vicad.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mikeforman21

Tags

Mike Forman is the sports editor of the Victoria Advocate. He has worked at the Advocate since 1982. He has a bachelor's degree from SMU and a master's degree from UCLA.