Kingsville – Sophomore left hander Tim Jones pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout as the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas beat the East Central Tigers 5-0 in game two of a doubleheader at Nolan Ryan Field.
East Central won the opener 10-9.
The Javelinas are now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league play while East Central is now 4-6 and 1-1.
Jones threw 91 pitches, walked just two and struck out three to earn the first complete game shutout victory for the Javelinas since Brandon Hevner pitched the Hogs to a 3-0 shutout win over East Central last March. He only allowed a runner as far as second base three times and retired the final five batters he faced.
The Javelinas got all the runs they needed with five runs in the second inning.
Owen Weaver and Joe Hamon opened the inning with consecutive singles and Taylor Everett doubled to drive home Weaver. Trey Karlen followed with an infield single to load the bases and Erik Gomez drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. Chase Myrick singled to drive in two more to make it 4-0 and James Brown stole home on a double steal to make it 5-0.
The Hogs had a 7-1 lead after the first two innings of the opener, but couldn’t hold on.
The Javelinas got three in the first on five hits and followed up with four in the second keyed by a two-run home run by Thomas Miller and a solo home run by Hamon.
But the Tigers scored two runs in the third and fifth innings and three in the sixth to take an 8-7 lead.
The Hogs bounced right back to take a 9-8 lead on a two-run, two out, 0-2 single by Hamon.
But the Javelina bullpen couldn’t hold the lead, allowing two runs in the top of the seventh and the Tigers bullpen shutdown the Hogs without a run over the final three innings.
Hamon had a big day at the plate going 6-for-8 with a home run, four runs batted in and three runs scored.
Brown went 4-for-7 with two runs scored. He extended his consecutive hit streak to seven at bats with two singles in his first two at bats in game one. He went 5-for-5 in Tuesday’s win over Texas A&M-International.
Myrick extended his hitting streak to six games by going 4-for-8 with a pair of RBI and Weaver has now hit in five in a row after going 3-for-8 with and RBI.
The Javelinas will conclude the four-game LSC series with the Tigers with a twinbill Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m.
