RICHARDSON, Texas (LSC/TAMUK) – Junior Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) came in relief for the Friday, March 9 game against No. 5 West Texas A&M and threw five scoreless innings en route to his first win of the season with a 9-4 decision favoring the No. 19 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program.

For his efforts, the Kyle, Texas, native was named the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week as he sat down six Buffs on strikes in the win.

On the year, Valdez owns a 2.31 ERA through 11.2 innings pitched across four appearances on the mound for the Blue and Gold. He has tallied 18 strikeouts while on the bump, third most on the team, and has held opponents to a .222 batting average.

Valdez becomes the second Hog to be named LSC Pitcher of the Week after senior Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi, Texas) took home the award back on February 6.

The Javelinas are fresh off a series win against WT after taking three of four from the Buffs at Nolan Ryan Field over the past weekend, with the only loss coming in extra-innings on Saturday in the first game of the doubleheader.

Senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) led all TAMUK batters on the weekend with a .615 average behind eight hits, two RBI, one walk and was perfect from the field in seven chances.

Seven Javelinas hit over .300 during the series as junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) was right behind Zents with a .455 average on five hits, three RBI and was hit by a pitch on two occasions.

Senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) and junior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) provided the power as Ingraham had three homers in the series, including a pair of leadoff shots in game one on Friday, while Loredo smashed a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh in the first game of the doubleheader.

Ingraham finished the four-game slate with eight RBI while Loredo added three of his own.

Senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) tallied the lone triple in the series and posted three RBI to help supplement the offensive look for the Hogs.

On the mound, senior Kyle Craft (Victoria, Texas) clinched the series with five innings of one-run ball on Sunday, March 11, while giving up only three hits on the day. Redshirt-senior Lee May Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) took the win on March 10 for the Saturday split behind three punchouts, while freshman Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) secured his first career save on the Saturday win before tossing two innings of one-hit ball on Sunday.

The Hogs will square off against the University of Houston-Victoria on Wednesday, March 14, before heading further up the road for a four-game slate against Cameron University over the weekend.

UH-Victoria is in the midst of a four-game skid after dropping a 7-2 decision to St. Mary's on March 6 before getting swept in a three-game series against LSU-Shreveport this past weekend.

The Jaguars are currently 6-13 overall on the year and are led by four separate student-athletes who have started all 19 contests. Garrett Harrison leads the pack with a .318 average on 21 hits, one double, one triple, 12 RBI and nine walks.

Chase Almendarez is right behind with a .297 batting average behind 19 hits, five doubles and a team-leading 16 RBI, while Joshua Fonseca and Chase Tamez round out the quartet with a .254 and .246 average, respectively.

The mound for UH-Victoria will feature a cavalcade of pitchers as eight separate Jaguars have started on the bump at some point on the season.

Tanner Knowles leads the group with five starts and has compiled a 3.71 ERA on 26.2 innings pitched for a 2-2 record. Knowles has struck out 24 batters despite allowing a .303 batting average.

Ross Bludau has also seen extensive action on the mound with four starts for a 0-1 record behind a 4.84 ERA on 22.1 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts.

Jonathan Jimenez is the final Jaguar to put in work as he has made his way into the starting rotation with eight appearances and three starts for a 1-0 record on a 2.33 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched and 16 strikeouts.

First pitch for Wednesday's night cap is set for 6 p.m. CT at Riverside Stadium.

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