DENTON, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team open their Lone Star Conference schedule with a pair of losses at Texas Woman’s University on Friday afternoon, 7-3 and 11-2.

In the opening game the Javelinas (8-10, 0-2) squandered a few early chances leaving two runners on base in both the second and third innings. The Pioneers (14-4, 2-0) took advantage of the missed opportunities scoring four times in the bottom of the third and three more times in the bottom of the fourth due to some poor defense by the Javs.

The Hoggies got on the board in the top of the fifth inning scoring three times. The Pioneers committed two errors in the inning leading to two of the runs. Rose Stubbs (Garland/Garland HS) led the offense by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Lindsey Brown (Spring/Spring HS) pitched a complete game and took the loss.

The Pioneers were led by Katie Hines who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI’s and a run scored. She also picked up the win in the circle tossing 4.1 innings to improve to 7-0 on the season. Tiffany Weise added two hits, two runs batted in and a double.

In the second game, the Javelinas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but the Pioneers scored in every inning except the first en route to a run-rule victory in six innings.

Amber Cherry (Splendora/Splendora HS) led off the game with a single and scored on Yvette Berlanga’s (San Antonio/O’Connor HS) single. After TWU tied the game in the bottom of the second, the Hoggies went back ahead in the third. Stubbs tripled and later scored on Kaylee Villanueva’s (Corpus Christi/Moody HS) sacrifice fly.

The Pioneers tied the game on a Hines home run in the bottom of the third and added three more runs in the frame before finally being sent down. They scored once in the fourth, twice in the fifth and then Bailey Vrazel ended the game in the sixth with a bases loaded triple.

The Javelinas finished with nine hits in the game as Berlanga and Kaycee Bryan (Splendora/Splendora HS) each had two safeties. However, they left eight runners on base. Denise Arnold was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs in 4.0 innings of work.

The Pioneers had 13 hits, including six extra-base hits. Kendra Sancet and Vrazel each drove in three runs in the game. Lizzie Kelly was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Larisa Garcia pitched a complete game striking out seven to earn the victory.

The two teams will conclude their series on Saturday at 11 a.m.
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