CANYON, Texas (Baseball) – No. 10/14 Texas A&M University-Kingsville (11-0) hits the road for a four-game set at Wilder Park versus No. 15/21 West Texas A&M University (12-2) beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. A double dip is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday with the series finale at 1 p.m.
Live stats and video will be available on
www.JavelinaAthletics.com and can be accessed by visiting the baseball schedule page.
NOTE: This is a nonconference series.
IN THE RANKINGS
Texas A&M-Kingsville is No. 10 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Top 25, No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball News (CBN) and No. 26 in D2 Baseball News. West Texas A&M is currently No. 15 in the NCBWA, No. 17 in D2 Baseball News and No. 21 in the CBN.
MOUND DOMINANCE
As a staff, the Javelinas are second nationally in hits allowed per nine innings with 5.4. The 1.69 team ERA is third lowest in NCAA Division II and the 0.99 WHIP is fourth best.
Zach Wilson (1-0) has 12 strikeouts in 10.0 innings. The right-hander is coming off a shutout victory versus the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in his first start of the season. His 0.00 ERA is tops in the nation among qualified pitchers. His 0.7 WHIP is 24
th in DII, one spot behind
Seth Hubert, who enters the weekend 3-0 and 16 strikeouts to go with a 0.95 ERA.
DISCIPLINE
Junior
Christian Caudle leads the country with 1.8 walks per game (18 total) and his .727 on-base percentage is second best in Division II. The backstop is hitting .520 for the Javelinas. As a team, the Hogs are No. 15 in scoring; plating 9.7 runs per game and No. 19 in OBP at .437. The club is hittin g.341 on the year.
Joshua Croft is batting .389 with five doubles, two triples and 11 RBI from the leadoff spot,
Hunter Perkins follows at .388 with a home run and 12 ribbies, and
Dallas Stefano has four extra base hits in nine starts.
Pablo Hernandez leads the team with 15 RBI to go with his .375 batting average. Shortstop
Alex Gonzalez is hitting .345 and
Levi Zents (.333) and
Jimmy Roche (.308) are also over the .300 clip.
In limited action,
Hunter Lehman is 5-of-11 with five RBI and
Travis Geiser is 3-of-7 with four RBI.
ABOUT THE BUFFS
The Buffs this season are hitting .367 in 2017, leading the Lone Star Conference. WT's 160 runs scored are 12
th nationally and second in the conference. On the mound, West Texas A&M has posted a 2.33 ERA, second best in the LSC behind TAMUK.
Nick Canas leads the team with a .488 average and 15 RBI and his .510 OBP is also tops on the club. Luis Amaro is second on the team in average at a .420 clip, two home runs and 26 RBI. Aaron Vallance follows with a .409 clip, Adam Adkins is hitting .404 with seven doubles and 19 RBI and Troy LaBrie has blasted three home runs.
On the rubber, Marshall Kasowski leads the team with a 1.38 ERA and is 3-1 on the year. His 51 punchouts are second most in NCAA Division II. Southpaw Justin McAllister is second on the team in ERA at 2.76 and is 1-0 in five appearances with one start and one save.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow the six-time Lone Star Conference champions on Twitter (
@JavelinaBSB) and Instagram (
@JavelinaBSB), and like the
/JavelinaBSB Facebook page.
