KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – For the third consecutive day, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team split a pair of games at their own tournament on Sunday at Hubert Field. They defeated Southern Arkansas, 6-5 and lost to #23 Midwestern State, 7-2. (Game 1, Game 2)

The Javelinas (6-6) fell behind in the early going to the Muleriders (1-5) who had beaten the Hoggies on Friday. The Muleriders scored four times in the top of the first inning on five hits and two errors. Three of the runs came with two outs as Courtney Johnson made the Javs pay with a two-run single.

The Javelinas scored lone runs in the first and third innings. Yvette Berlanga (San Antonio/O’Connor HS) had an RBI double and Janay Gonzalez (Alice/Alice HS) had a run-scoring single. Unfortunately, the Javelinas were not taking advantage of their opportunities as they left 11 runners on base through the first six innings.

The Muleriders added a run in the second inning, but then freshman Lauren Denney (Alvin/Alvin HS) came on in relief and shut down SAU over the final four innings of the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, the first two Javelinas batters reached base before an out was recorded. Then, Ali Bodnar (Las Vegas, NV/Green Valley HS) blooped a double into right field to cut the lead by one. Amber Cherry (Splendora/Splendora HS) followed with a single to load the bases. A force play at home made it two outs and the Javs trailing by two when Kaycee Bryan (Splendora/Splendora HS) singled to score one run. A wild pitch allowed Cherry to score the tying run and then Roxanne Rodriguez (Portland/Gregory-Portland HS) won the game with a single to center field.

Denney picked up her first career victory allowing three hits and one walk while striking out one in 4.0 innings of work. Berlanga had three hits while Bryan and Cherry each had two.

Julie Essary was tagged with the loss after allowing 12 hits, six runs and six walks while striking out three in a complete game. Kylee Crosek led the team with three hits and a stolen base.

In the second game, the Javelinas battled hard, but the Mustangs (11-1) proved to be a little too strong. The Mustangs scored three times in the first inning and then added lone runs in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh. Kim Jerrick went 2-for-3 with two runs and a mammoth home run. Courtney Bingham capped off a huge tournament with a 3-for-5 performance while Brittany Tanner went 3-for-4 at the plate and earned the win in the circle. Tanner allowed six hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out 10 in a complete game.

Rose Stubbs (Garland/Garland HS) and Bryan led the Javelinas with two hits apiece. The Javs were able to score twice in the fifth inning, but unlike earlier in the day they were unable to make the big comeback. Amanda Arriaga (Kingsville/H.M. King HS) was tagged with the loss after allowing 15 hits, four earned runs and three walks in 7.0 innings.

The Javelinas are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to St. Mary’s for a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
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