KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team picked up two wins in Lone Star Conference play on Friday as they topped West Texas A&M, 6-3 and 9-6 at Nolan Ryan Field.  (Game 1, Game 2)

In the first game, Javelina (14-10, 10-8) junior David de Leon (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) pitched his way to a team best fourth victory on the season. He did not allow a run until the sixth inning when the Buffalos (3-10, 1-10) rallied for three runs thanks to a pair of doubles by Rob Mann and Garrettt Campfield.

With a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hoggies put two more runs on the board thanks to a two-run double by Jerry Rodriguez (Canovanas, Puerto Rico).

With a 6-3 lead, Javelina head coach Jason Gonzales called upon freshman closer Taylor Taska (Kingwood/Kingwood HS) to finish the game. Taska quickly retired the side. He hit one batter and struck out another as he picked up his seventh save of the season, tying Gabe Perez’s 15-year old school record.

All nine players in the Javelina lineup had one hit. Clifton Thomas (San Diego, CA/El Cajon Valley HS) scored two runs and had a stolen base.

Mann went 3-for-4 with a run scored while Campfield went 2-for-3 with two RBI’s for the Buffs. Chad Sands was tagged with the loss as he pitched a complete game allowing 10 hits and no walks.

In the second game, the Javelinas and Buffs went back and forth through the first three innings. In the fourth inning, the Hoggies exploded for five runs and held on for the 9-6 victory.

The Javelinas scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning despite only getting one hit. They had four players hit by pitch and another walked. In the third inning, Luis Diaz (Santa Ana, CA/Century HS) drove in a run with a single to tie the game at 4-4.

In the fourth inning, the Javelinas put together a two-out rally. With two outs, Rodriguez doubled and scored on Cody Stigall’s (Seguin/Seguin HS) single. Brandon Rohr (Anaheim, CA/Orange Lutheran HS) followed with a two-run double and Cash Barker (Spring/Klein HS) finished the rally with a two-run single.

The Hoggies did not score again the rest of the game, but Robert Cox (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) made the lead stand up. Cox allowed just two hits over innings 5-8 before running into some problems in the ninth. The Buffs scored a pair of two-out runs in the ninth, but that was as close as they would get.

The Buffs finished with 13 hits in the game including three doubles and two triples. Will Miller with 2-for-4 with three runs and two doubles. Four other players also had two hits apiece. Zach Walker was tagged with the loss on the mound after lasting only 3.2 innings.

Rohr and Barker led the Javelinas with three RBI’s apiece. Stigall went 2-for-4 with three runs. Freshman Ben Villafuerte (Corpus Christi/Carroll HS) reached base four times in the game on three hit by pitches and one walk.

The Javelinas and Buffalos meet again on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 o’clock.
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