CANYON, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team split a pair of games at Lone Star Conference rival #22 West Texas A&M on Saturday losing 16-6 and winning 15-3. In the process, the Javelinas (24-10, 12-7) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the league.
At the start of the day, the Javelinas and Buffalos (25-12, 12-7) were one game behind Angelo State, but the Rams dropped two games at Tarleton State so the teams will head into Sunday all tied at the top of the table.
In the first game, the Javelinas took an early 4-0 lead, but the Buffs exploded for six runs in the fourth inning and eight more in the sixth inning after the Hoggies had cut their lead to 8-6.
The Buffs pounded out 15 hits and drew eight walks in the seven inning game. Jordan Easom and Justin Henderson each had three hits in the game. Easom also added a triple and three RBI’s. Kendall Boone led the team with four runs batter while Eric Dorton crossed the plate three times.
Ryan Houston improved to 4-2 on the season. He went 6.0 innings allowing seven hits, five earned runs and one walk while striking out three. Josh Reyes pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the contest.
The Javelinas were held to seven hits. Cameron Dullnig (San Antonio/Clark HS) went 2-for-2 with two runs and a double while Trent Wagner (Victoria/Memorial HS) cracked a two-run homer, a portent of what was to come in the second game. Adam Aspaas (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills HS) fell to 6-2 on the season after lasting only four innings.
In the second game, Dallas Ponder (Flatonia/Flatonia HS) quieted the Buffalo bats while the Javelina offense blitzed the West Texas A&M pitching staff. Ponder pitched a complete game allowing six hits, three runs and one walk while striking out seven to improve to 2-1 on the year. He retired six of the final seven batters in the game.
The Javelina offense cracked a season high five home runs and had 18 hits in all. They got on the board within the first two batters of the game when Dustin Aguilar (San Antonio/Churchill HS) drove in Ben Villafuerte (Corpus Christi/Carroll HS) with a double. In the third inning, they scored three times, including a two-run homer by Wagner.
The Javelinas took a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth when the Buffs finally got on the board. The first three batters reached base and a pair of wild pitches help bring in two runs.
The Javelina offense would not be denied though. They scored three times in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Julian Duran (San Antonio/Madison HS) smacked a two-run homer in the fifth, his second of the year. Cash Barker (Spring/Klein HS) cracked his first career homer in the sixth inning, a two-run shot. Wagner hit his third two-run homer of the day in the seventh inning and Jake Mendiola (Kingsville/Richland Northeast HS) followed him with a solo shot.
Every player in the Hog lineup had at least one hit. Wagner finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBI’s, two runs, two homers and a walk. Barker added three RBI’s, two runs scored and a pair of hits. Mendiola was 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI’s and a homer. Dullnig contributed two more hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. During that stretch he is 24-for-44 at the plate.
The teams will play the final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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