KINGSVILLE, Texas (Softball) – Texas A&M University Kingsville (15-20, 6-10 LSC) resumes Lone Star Conference action April 1 when No. 2 West Texas A&M University (36-2, 18-2 LSC) enters Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field for a four-game series.
The Javelinas have won five of their last six games, highlighted by a four-game sweep at Eastern New Mexico University, followed by a no-hitter by
Carlie Clark, the fifth no-no in program history and first since 2005.
Games one and two are scheduled for Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. with Saturday's double dip slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch. Live stats will be available for all four games and can be accessed by visiting JavelinaAthletics.com.
Earlier this week,
Lauren Oatman was named the conference's hitter of the week after batting .714 in the road sweep at ENMU. Oatman went 6-for-7 in Saturday's doubleheader with two home runs. For the week, she tallied six runs, two home runs and 12 RBI and the outfielder did not strike out in 14 at bats.
A day later, Texas A&M-Kingsville began game one at Texas A&M International University with a 3-0 victory as Clark struck out five in 7.0 innings and allowed just four baserunners.
Victoria Schoonard-Saborio went yard and
Roxy Chapa finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate. In game two, the Javelinas trailed 3-0 heading into the final inning, but a furious rally put the tying run on third following a two-run home run by Oatman and a base hit by
Haley Boyett.
Schoonard-Saborio leads TAMUK with a batting average of .327 and has reached base safely in 24 straight games. Oatman and Boyett are hitting .308 and .302, respectively, this season. Oatman has 22 RBI and a six-game hitting streak heading into the weekend. Boyett has 29 runs this season and has stolen a team high of 14 bases.
Rachael Longoria is just on the cusps of a .300 average and heads into the weekend showdown with a seven-game hit streak.
In the circle, Clark is 7-6 after earning victories in her last three appearances. The right-hander has 55 strikeouts in 61.2 innings.
Karri Smith is 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA and
Sarah Gilbert is 3-4 with a 4.64 ERA.
The Lady Buffs dropped to No. 2 in the NFCA National Rankings following a 3-1 series victory over Cameron University.
WT has a team batting average of .381 with six batters over .300 and four batters over .400 including Kortney Coveney (.474), Stacey Ramirez (.444), Kylee Moore (.419), and Lacey Taylor (.416).
Ashley Hardin is .389 at the plate this season and leads the team with 11 home runs and 41 RBI with 113 appearances at the plate.
Tori Bayer and Alexis Alfonso have perfect records in the circle of 10-0 and 7-0, respectively. Bayer has a team best 1.43 ERA in 58.2 innings pitched while Alfonso has an ERA of 3.19 in 59.1 innings pitched. Kilee Halbert is 14-1 this season with 83 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched.
For full coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville softball, please follow @TAMUKSB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (
/JavelinaSports), and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.
