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KINGSVILLE, Texas – The six-game homestand at Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field for the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team (9-14, 1-7 LSC) concludes this weekend against Lone Star Conference foe Eastern New Mexico (15-13, 3-9 LSC). Friday's doubleheader is slated for a 5 p.m. first pitch and the first contest on Saturday starts at 12 p.m.
 
Sponsors
Friday – IBC Bank
Saturday – Christus Spohn
 
Promotions
Friday is staff appreciation day where all staff and family members are admitted for free with a Staff ID. Also, free hot dogs, nachos and water will be provided to the first 200 courtesy of the Staff Council.
 
Saturday is Strikeout Cancer Day at Hubert Field.
 
All-Time Series vs. ENMU
TAMUK leads the all-time series 43-24 over the Zias and they are the only current conference member the Javelinas have a winning record against. Last year, the two teams split the four-game set in Portales, New Mexico that took place on the last weekend of the regular season. The previous time they met in Kingsville in 2013, Eastern won two of the three contests. The Blue and Gold are 22-7 all-time at home in the series.
 
Scouting Texas A&M-Kingsville
Following Wednesday's home games, Rachael Longoria has taken over the team lead in batting average at .358. Loren Donaldson paces the squad with 23 hits and is one of three players with 10 RBI. Also plating 10 runs are Jaeleen Castro and Valerie Ramirez.
 
Three home runs have come from Ramirez's bat this season, the most by a Javelina. Adding two homers apiece are Haley Boyett and Donaldson while one has been smacked by Karri Smith, Castro and Longoria.
 
Seven of the Blue and Gold's 17 steals have been courtesy of Boyett. Three have been swiped by Ramirez and two were stolen by Castro, Longoria and Lugo.
 
Smith leads the pitching staff with a 3.99 ERA and 10 complete games. The workhorse has tossed 72.0 innings with 31 strikeouts. Two of TAMUK's shutouts this year have been thrown by Carlie Clark. She enters the weekend with a 3-3 record, 4.81 ERA and a team-high 34 strikeouts. Also starting five games with 22 strikeouts in 24.0 innings is Bella Rosas.
 
Scouting Eastern New Mexico
ENMU comes in having already equaled their win total from 2014. In LSC series this season, they have gone 1-3 in each against Angelo State, Cameron and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Zias are 1-4 in true road games with their lone win coming versus the Lions while dropping their only non-conference away tilt at Southwestern Oklahoma State back in the opening weekend of the season.
 
Centerfielder Amanda Martinez paces ENMU with a .419 average, the seventh highest in the conference, as well as 27 runs and eight stolen bases. Audrey Velasquez has recorded a league-high 40 hits while hitting .396 with two home runs, 20 RBI and 19 runs. Also batting over .300 are Jaqueline Candelaria (.316), Susannah Chandler (.367), Aurelia Sandoval (.311), Kyra Sirag (.376) and Elizabeth Velasquez (.342).
 
Sandoval paces the squad with four home runs and 22 RBI. Sirag has blasted three homers while Marleyna Pinon, Chandler, A. Velasquez and E. Velasquez all have two dingers apiece. Chandler has also plated 21 runs this season.
 
The Zias are hitting .344 with .394 and .474 on-base percentages. They have recorded 279 hits this season, of which 44 have been doubles, 16 home runs and seven triples. Batters have combined to strikeout 94 times, draw 58 walks and have been hit on 13 occurrences. In the field, ENMU comes in with a .957 fielding percentage and have committed 35 errors.
 
Aja Secheslingloff is the ace of the staff, appearing in 20 games with 16 starts. She has thrown a team-high 101.1 innings and is 11-7 with 55 strikeouts. Making six starts with a 2-3 record and 5.78 ERA is Kiana Zerr. Also beginning five contest is Katie Ripple (0-1, 7.85 ERA). Vanessa Ramirez has made 12 appearances out of the bullpen. She sports a 2-1 mark with two saves and a 3.04 ERA.
 
As a staff, the Zias enter with a 5.16 ERA over 184.2 innings while hurling 11 complete games with a shutout. Opponents are hitting .324 against them and have hit 33 balls out of the park, the most in the LSC. Eastern has struck out 81, walks 76, plunked 28 and thrown 18 wild pitches as well.
 
Home Sweet Home Part 1
The Javelinas love to play games at Hubert Field. This season they are 7-1 after sweeping a twinbill from Houston-Victoria. TAMUK is batting .365 and averaging 5.3 runs a game while recording a 1.48 ERA and holding opponents to a .250 average in the circle.
 
Home Sweet Home Part 2
Clark has been dominating on the rubber at Hubert Field in 2015. In four starts, she is 3-0 with three complete games, two shutouts, a 1.64 ERA and 31 strikeouts. Away from Kingsville Clark has struggled, going 0-3 with a 10.76 ERA and has struck out only three.
 
K-Town
Clark has been a strikeout machine at home this season. Of her 34 strikeouts, 31 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.
 
Castro Plunked Mark
Back 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.
 
Winning February
Texas 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 Away
TAMUK 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 the entire series and Saturday's games will be broadcast on the Javelina Broadcast Network. Links can be found on the softball schedule page.
 
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