Softball | 3/24/2015 4:00:00 PM
KINGSVILLE, Texas – Coming off a six-game road stand, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team (7-14) returns to the friendly confines of Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. for a doubleheader against Houston-Victoria (19-10).
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All-Time Series vs UHVThe all-time series between the two programs is tied 2-2. The Javelinas won the first two meetings in 2013 by the scores of 4-2 and 3-0. The Jaguars responded with a twinbill sweep last season. All four meetings have taken place in Kingsville.
Scouting Texas A&M-KingsvilleEntering with a team-high .361 batting average is
Loren Donaldson. She also paces the squad with nine RBI and is tied for second with two home runs.
Rachael Longoria (.326) is the only other regular hitting above .300.
Valerie Ramirez comes in having bashed three home runs and is tied for second with eight RBI along with
Jaeleen Castro. Homers have also come off the bats of
Haley Boyett,
Shyenne Hicks,
Karri Smith, Castro and Longoria.
Of the Blue and Gold's 13 steals, five have come from the legs of Boyett. Ramirez has swiped three bags while both
Stephanie Lugo and Castro have stolen two apiece.
A staff-low ERA of 4.20 is sported by Smith in a team-high 65.0 innings of work. For the season she is 3-7 with nine complete games and 27 strikeouts.
Bella Rosas goes into the day with a 2-4 record, 4.38 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Making six starts and posting a team best 28 strikeouts is
Carlie Clark (2-3, 5.85 ERA).
Scouting Houston-VictoriaUHV enters Wednesday's games having split with Oklahoma City, the No. 1 NAIA team in the nation, last Thursday. So far this season, the Jaguars have played six games against Division opponents, going 4-2. They swept Grambling State and Prairie View A&M while dropping two against Texas Southern. All three programs are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Savannah Crittenden comes in hitting a team best .396 and paces the squad with seven steals. She has also hit two home runs, driven in 12 and scored 18 times. Leading the Jaguars with three home runs, two triples and 27 RBI is Brenda Leal-Flores. She is second on the team with a .369 average and has recorded six doubles as well.
Close behind her in the average department is Lani Munoz at .368. Also batting over .300 this season are Eden Favela (.325), Madison Garza (.333), Krissa Powell (.342), Haley Sewalson (.342) and Lauren Von Boeckmann (.315).
Haley Beam, Garza and Von Boeckmann have all hit a dinger this year. Beam has totaled 21 RBI while Briana Knowles has scored a team-high 22 runs.
As a team, UHV is hitting .323 with a .380 on-base and .443 slugging percentages. They have recorded 256 base knocks with 49 doubles, 11 triples and eight homers. The Jaguars have drawn 84 walks and been plunked 11 times but have gone down on strikes 119 times. On the base paths, they are 35-for-48 stealing bases.
Their top two pitchers are Crittenden and Garza. Crittenden has started 13 games, completing five of them, and has thrown a shutout. For the year, she is 8-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 59.1 innings, 24 strikeouts and 32 free passes. Garza has a staff-low ERA of 2.87 in a team-high 85.1 innings of work. She enters with an 8-6 mark, 43 strikeouts and has completed seven of the 12 games she has begun. Making 13 appearances so far has been Haley Sewalson (2-0, 5.64 ERA) while Beam (1-1, 4.32 ERA) has pitched in six games including three starts.
As a staff, the Jaguars have a 3.91 ERA in 189.2 innings. They have thrown two shutouts and completed 14 contests. Opponents are hitting .284 off them with 50 extra base knocks. UHV has recorded 90 strikeouts but has issued 97 walks.
Castro Plunked MarkBack on March 13 in the second game of the day at Cameron, Castro was hit by a pitch to reach base. With that plunk, she was hit for the 23rd time in her career to move into sole possession of first place on the school's all-time list. The previous record holder was Kenna Gipson who played for the Javelinas in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
K-TownClark has been a strikeout machine at home this season. Of her 28 strikeouts, 25 of them have come in the circle at Hubert Field. In the season opener against Texas A&M International, she struck out eight. She followed with nine versus Huston-Tillotson, including the first three batters of the game on the minimum nine pitches, and another eight against Texas A&M-Commerce.
Winning FebruaryTexas A&M-Kingsville completed February with a 6-5 record. It was the first time they have finished the first month of the season with a winning record since 2009 when they went 14-6. The 2012 Javelinas came close, going 8-8 in the first month of the season.
Bombs AwayTAMUK blasted four homers in the final game of the Southeastern Regional Invitational against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The home run total is the most by the Javelinas in a game since also hitting four at Eastern New Mexico on March 25, 2011.
Live stats will be available for both contests. Links can be found on the softball schedule page.
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