EDMOND, OKLAHOMA – The Texas A&M-Kingsville pitching staff came through with flying colors on Saturday as they led the baseball team to a doubleheader sweep at Lone Star Conference rival Central Oklahoma, 1-0 and 7-2. (Game 1, Game 2)

In the first game, the Javelinas (9-5, 5-5) struggled at the plate as Broncho (3-5, 1-5) starting pitcher Kale Murphree retired the first 13 batters he faced and struck out five in a row at one point. However, the Hoggies were able to scratch across a run in the top of the fifth inning when Cody Stigall (Seguin/Seguin HS) and Ben Villafuerte (Corpus Christi/Carroll HS) hit back-to-back singles and then Rich Arroyo (Missouri City/Elkins HS) came through with a two-out run-scoring single.

That was all Hoggie starting pitcher David de Leon (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) would need. He did not allow a Broncho to reach third base until the bottom of the seventh inning. He was pulled after pitching 6.1 innings allowing five hits and no walks while striking out seven. Freshman Taylor Taska (Kingwood/Kingwood HS) came on to get the final two outs and preserve the 1-0 victory. De Leon improved to 3-1 on the season while Taska picked up his fourth save.

In the second game, freshman Clay Stephens (Houston/Bellaire HS) got the start on the mound. He gave up a lead-off home run to Taylor Brown, but quickly settled down and only faced three batters over the minimum the rest of the game to earn a complete game victory. He went 9.0 innings allowing eight hits, two walks and two runs while striking out four to pick up his second victory of the season.

The Javelina offense got going in the middle innings as they scored two runs in the third, three in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Second baseman Jerry Rodriguez (Canovanas, P.R./North Lake CC) got things going in the third with a two-run homer. In the fifth, Brandon Rohr (Anaheim, CA/Orange Lutheran HS) had a two-out, two-run single and then Stigall followed with another run-scoring hit.

Hoggie catcher Cash Barker (Spring/Klein HS) went 3-for-4 with a stolen base in the game. Trent Wagner (Victoria/Memorial HS) walked twice and scored three runs.

Chris Muchmore was handed the loss for the Bronchos. He went 5.1 innings allowing six hits, five earned runs and four walks while striking out two.

The two teams will finish up their four game series on Sunday with a 12:30 start.
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