STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Baseball) – With one swing of the bat, the Javelinas regained the lead as
Hunter Perkins' grand slam in the seventh allowed #RV/22 Texas A&M University-Kingsville (31-13, 21-9 LSC) to take the series opener over Tarleton State University (19-24, 13-17 LSC), 7-5, Saturday afternoon at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
Down 5-3, the designated hitter drilled a 1-0 pitch past the fence in left center field to clear the bases and give the Javelinas a 7-5 lead. Perkins finished 3-for-5 with five RBI and leadoff hitter
Dalton Perry went 3-for-5 with two runs.
Hayden Vesely was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Preston Plovanich improved to 6-1 after striking out seven in 6.0 innings. The southpaw allowed five runs – one earned – and is now 6-1 against LSC opponents.
Trey Taylor earned a hold and
Lance Elling picked up his fourth save of the season after striking out two in 2.1 innings. Austin Drolette allowed four runs in relief to fall to 0-2.
Texas A&M-Kingsville began with two runs in the first as
Ruben Almaguer and Perkins registered back-to-back RBI singles. Perry led off the frame with a single and Vesely walked and the duo scored on the RBI base knocks.
Tarleton State scored four runs in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. The Javelinas made it a one-run ballgame with an RBI single by Vesely plating
Christian Caudle, who led off the frame reaching on an error.
The Texans added an insurance run in the fifth to extend their lead to two, and it would hold until the seventh when Perkins cleared the bases with his second home run of the season. Perry and Vesely singled in the frame and Almaguer walked to load the bases for TAMUK.
The series concludes tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available.
Be sure to follow the six-time Lone Star Conference championships on Twitter (
@JavelinaBSB) and Instagram (
@JavelinaBSB), and like the
/JavelinaSports Facebook page.
