KINGSVILLE, Texas – After seeing their 2017 campaign end on day two of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team is raring to go in 2018 and they'll begin their season in the home of the World Champion Houston Astros, Minute Maid Park, the site for the 2018 Houston Winter Invitational, where the Javelinas will play three games in three days.
The first pitch of TAMUK's season will be thrown on Friday against Colorado School of Mines. The Hogs and the Orediggers will square off at 2 p.m. in the first game of the year for both teams. Game two will happen 24 hours later against the University of Central Missouri and the Javelinas will collide with Henderson State on Sunday, the final day of the event, at 10 a.m.
The Javelinas were picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference's preseason poll, one spot below where they ended the previous campaign. Coach Jason Gonzales will be attempting to lead the Javs to their seventh conference title. The program is also seeking its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven seasons.
One of the biggest keys to the team's success in 2018 will be the play of catcher Christian Caudle, both at the plate and behind the dish. Caudle returns to Kingsville following a junior campaign that landed him on the All-LSC first-team. His batting average of .384 was the conference's fourth-best and he led the league in walks with 45 and his .520 on-base percentage placed him third in the LSC. The Klein, Texas native also led the squad in runs scored and swiped eight bases, second-best on the Javelinas. At the 2017 Houston Winter Invitational, Caudle helped his team finish off a perfect showing in Houston by battering the St. Mary's University pitching staff for three hits and five RBIs in a 14-4 victory.
TAMUK's offense in no way figures to be a one man show, however. Infielder Levi Zents and outfielder Pablo Hernandez are both back for another year in the Blue and Gold after joining Caudle on the LSC first-team. Hernandez piled up a league-high 21 doubles, finished one spot ahead of Caudle on the conference leaderboard in hitting with an average of .390 and tied for fifth with 43 RBIs. Zents can lay claim to one of best batting eyes in the LSC, as evidenced by his 31 walks and .467 OBP, both of which were good enough to place him in the top 10 in the league. Both student-athletes also earned spots on All-South Central Region roster.
The stable of arms that Gonzales will have to choose from this season includes the three hurlers who threw the most innings for the Javelinas in 2017: Seth Hubert, Isaiah Lybarger and Preston Plovanich. This trip to Houston should bring back fond memories for all three, as they combined to throw 18.1 innings in Minute Maid last year, allowing only three runs and picking up a pair of wins. Hubert concluded 2017 on the all-conference second-team, firing 71.1 innings and pitching to an earned run average of 3.79 and a record of 7-4. Lybarger led the squad with an ERA of 3.47 and 56 strikeouts, eighth-best in the Lone Star Conference. Plovanich topped the league with five complete games and crafted a 3.79 ERA and six wins against four losses.
Colorado School of Mines is coming off a season in which they placed second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a mark of 32-22 and 21-15 in RMAC play. The Orediggers lost their two best players to graduation in infielder Logan Smith and outfielder Cody Marvel, both of whom were selected as all-conference performers a year ago. Friday's matchup will mark the first time these two programs have ever crossed paths.
That is not the case for TAMUK and Central Missouri, who last locked horns at this same event in 2013, with the Hogs collecting a 4-1 win. The Mules earned the fourth spot in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association, compiling a record of 32-18 and 23-13 in conference. One year earlier, UCM collected their conference's regular season and tournament championships, captured the Central Region Title in the NCAA Tournament and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships. The 2018 edition of the Mules includes four players who were chosen to the all-MIAA first-team, including outfielder Justin Graff-Rowe, who was also named an All-American after a year in which he won the conference batting crown with a .412 average.
The final match of the invitational pits the Hoggies against Henderson State out of the Great American Conference. Their most important returner is pitcher Bryant Haralson, who is the GAC's reigning pitcher of the year, having thrown to a 2.16 ERA and a record of 10-3. The Reddies will be attempting to return to the form that saw them capture their conference's tournament championship in 2015 and make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.
All three games in Houston will be broadcast live on the radio via KTAI 91.1 and through Javelinaathletics.com. Mark Inserra will provide the play-by-play. At the end of each contest, Javelinaathletics.com is also where you'll be able to find a complete recap. To follow the program all season long, you can follow the team on Twitter @JavelinaBSB, like /JavelinaSports on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina athletics YouTube channel.
