WEATHERFORD, OKLAHOMA – The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team had a rough weekend at Lone Star Conference rival Southwestern Oklahoma State.  On Saturday, the Javelinas and Bulldogs finished up the second game from Friday with the Bulldogs coming out on top 12-9.  Then the Bulldogs proceeded to sweep the regularly scheduled doubleheader 11-4 and 5-4.  (Game 1, Game 2, Game 3)

In the conclusion from Friday’s game, both teams hit the ball well, but it was the Bulldogs (8-6, 4-4) who ultimately came out on top.  The Bulldogs scored in every inning except the fifth.  Travis Rose led the team with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate with two solo home runs.  Jon-Andrew Martin just missed hitting for the cycle with a single, double and triple.  Morgan Marr cracked the teams’ other home run, a two-run shot.  Relief pitcher Kevin Hyde picked up the win twirling two scoreless innings of relief.

The Javelina offense was led by junior centerfielder Clifton Thomas (San Diego, CA/El Cajon Valley HS) and senior shortstop Erik Gomez (El Paso/Socorro HS).  Thomas went 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBI’s, a double, home run and stolen base.  Gomez went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.  Junior outfielder Robert Cox (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) hit his first career homer in the seventh inning, a two-run shot.  Freshman Thomas Ayala (Corpus Christi/Ray HS) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Hoggies while Ryan Torres (Porter/Blinn JC) was tagged with the loss.

In the first game on Saturday, the Bulldogs used two big innings on offense to put away the Javelinas.  In the fourth inning, the Bulldogs scored three runs and then exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning as they batted 11 players.  Nelson Espinal led the offense with two hits, two runs scored and two RBI’s.  SWOSU took advantage of four Kingsville errors to score four unearned runs.  Hyde started the game pitching four innings and striking out seven while Grocki pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win.

Gomez led the Javelina offense for the second straight game with a 3-for-3 performance that included two runs batted in.  All four of the Hoggie runs were unearned.  Thomas Miller (Las Vegas, NV/Western Nevada) had a double and two runs scored while Travis Earles (Houston/Blinn JC) added two hits.  Freshman Chris Brown (Humble/Nimitz HS) was handed the loss after allowing five runs and striking out seven in four innings.

In the final game of the series, the Javelinas fell behind early and battled back to tie the score in the eighth inning before the Bulldogs won the game in the ninth, 5-4.

The Bulldogs scored a run in the first and two more in the second inning before Hoggie starting pitcher Tim Jones (Lake Jackson/Brazoswood HS) settled down.  Jones held the Bulldogs to four hits and one run over his final five innings of work.

The Javelinas scored a run in the fourth inning when Philip Johnson (Malibu, CA/Malibu HS) led off with a double and eventually scored on Cox’s sacrifice fly.  The team trailed 4-1 heading into the top of the eighth inning but tied it up thanks to some help from the Bulldog defense.  The Hoggies pulled to within 4-3 on Adrian Williams’ (Victoria/Memorial HS) run-scoring double.  Williams scored after the Bulldogs committed two errors with two outs to tie the game.

In the bottom of the ninth, Rose reached base when he was hit by a pitch to start the inning.  He was sacrificed to second and the Hoggies intentionally walked the next batter.  An unintentional walk loaded the bases with one out.  Alexander Pagan hit a ground ball to Gomez at short and the Javelinas tried to turn the double play, but Pagan beat out the throw to first allowing Rose to score the game winner.

Chris Morrison pitched 7.2 innings for the Bulldogs allowing 10 hits while striking out two batters.  Aldemar Betrian pitched the final 1.1 innings without allowing a run to pick up the win.

Williams led the Javelina offense with a 3-of-4 outing that included two doubles.  Wes Callihan (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) was tagged with the loss on the mound.

The Javelinas are back in action on Tuesday night at 6 o’clock when they host Houston-Victoria.
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