KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team pounded nine extra-base hits en route to a 14-9 win over visiting Texas A&M-International on Tuesday night at Nolan Ryan Field.

The Javelinas (29-12) scored six times in the first inning thanks to four doubles and a triple and they never looked back. The Dustdevils (21-21) closed to within one run in the fourth inning, but the Hoggies came right back with two runs in the bottom half of the frame.

Taylor Taska (Kingwood/Kingwood HS) and James Black (Spring/Klein Collins HS) were the hitting stars of the game for the Javelinas. Taska had a triple, a home run and a double in his first three at bats and finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs and four RBI’s. Black finished with his second five RBI game since Friday. He drove in two in the first on a double and three more in the fifth with another double.

The Javelinas finished with 14 hits on the evening. Ben Villafuerte (Corpus Christi/Carroll HS) added his second home run of the season and was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Cameron Dullnig (San Antonio/Clark HS) kept his hitting streak alive with an eighth inning infield single to push the streak to 18 games.

Adrian De La Garza (Pearland/Dobie HS) picked up the win for the Javelinas. He pitched the first 3.0 innings of the game giving up four hits, two walks and one run while striking out two. Jeremy Flores (Victoria/Memorial HS) notched his third save of the season with 3.0 innings of strong work allowing just one hit and no walks while fanning two.

The Dustdevils finished the game with 13 hits. Will Wurth lead the team going 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI’s and a double. Korey Gosselin drove in two runs and had a pair of doubles. Donald Fennell took the loss after allowing five runs without recording an out to start the game. Chris Villa pitched a perfect ninth inning for the team.

The Javelinas are back in action on Friday against Lone Star Conference rival Incarnate Word in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The first 500 fans to the game will get a free hotdog. On Saturday, the Javelinas close out the regular season at Whataburger Field against Incarnate Word in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
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