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CANYON, Texas (Baseball) – The first-place Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball team (19-12, 13-6 LSC) begins the second half of Lone Star Conference play at Wilder Park, taking on West Texas A&M University (20-12, 12-8 LSC) in a three-game series, beginning on April 3 at 7 p.m.
 
The Javelinas, who received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) Polls, took three out of four from WT earlier this season.
 
Following tomorrow's conference bout, a twin bill is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. Live stats and video will be available for all three games and can be accessed by visiting JavelinaAthletics.com, the official home of Texas A&M-Kingsville athletics.  
 
Battle of the Top Teams
Heading into the weekend, TAMUK and West Texas sit atop the LSC standings at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Hogs are 1.5 games ahead of the Buffs.
 
Tough Task at Hand
WT is 9-1 this season at Wilder Park this season, but the Javelinas have come away with three road conference wins in 2015, taking two from Cameron University on back-to-back shutouts by Matt Terrones and Hayden James and riding Ryan Benitez's arm to a shutout victory in last weekend's series opener at Tarleton State University.
 
Scouting the Buffs
West Texas A&M ranks second in the conference in team earned run average, boasting a 3.10 ERA.
 
Justin Disbro (3-3) has three complete games to anchor the WT rotation. Closer Paul Lujan has six saves and a 0.68 ERA.
 
Going the Distance
The Javelinas lead the conference with five combined shutouts. The number is good for fifth best in the nation.
 
Offensive Firepower from Top to Bottom
Clint Wallace leads the team and ranks fifth in the LSC in batting average (.340), Ryan Fickel and Zach Smith rank second and third in runs scored, respectively, setting the tone at the top of the order for the Javelinas. Hayden Vesely's 22 walks are a conference-high and his .464 on-base percentage is second best in the LSC.
 
Cline Andrews has seven doubles, three triples and a home run from the cleanup spot and Brayton Carlson enters the month of April with a .324 batting average and six stolen bases.
 
As a team, the Javelinas are hitting .282 with 73 extra-base hits, including 56 doubles and 11 triples.
 
Pitcher's Galore
Ryan Scott has not allowed an earned run in 11.0 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.79. He is just four saves away from tying Jeremy Flores for the all-time saves mark in Javelina history (24).
 
Benitez has not allowed a run since the eighth inning versus Eastern New Mexico (14 innings) and has punched out 36 batters in his previous four starts.
 
For full coverage of Kingsville baseball, please follow @TAMUKBaseball14 on Twitter and @JavelinaAthletics on Instagram, like our Facebook page (Javelina Nation) and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.