VICTORIA, Texas – Sophomore
Dax McCleary (Sweeny, Texas) smashed a pinch-hit grand slam on Wednesday at Riverside Park to provide the exclamation point on a 13-3 win for the No. 16 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program over the University of Houston-Victoria.
The Javelinas (16-3) plated nine runs in the eighth inning to turn a close affair against the Jaguars (6-14) into a blowout.
UH-Victoria struck first in the bottom of the third after Jacob Atkinson drove a pitch into right to cap Joshua Fonseca for a 1-0 Jaguar lead.
The lead wouldn't last long as senior
Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth to cap redshirt-junior
Tim Gleinser (Victoria, Texas), while senior
Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) roped a two-run liner into right to score redshirt-sophomore
Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) and senior
Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas).
A failed pickoff attempt from Nathaniel Pena with Stefano and Zents at the corners allowed the latter to cross the plate for a 4-1 Javelina lead heading into the bottom half of the stanza.
Fonseca kept the hosts close behind in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot to left center before senior
Seth Hubert (Riviera, Texas) got the bill with two outs and two on and ended the threat with a fly ball from Zachariah Vela.
Senior
Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) led off the top of the eighth with a smash to left center to set the tone for the remainder of the frame, while junior
Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) drove a one-run double down the left field line to plate Stefano to keep the rally rolling.
A slew of free passes brought the next three Hogs home as Ullman, Ingraham and Caudle all took a bases-loaded walk to cap senior
Travis Geiser (Portland, Texas), Hutcheson and redshirt-junior
Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas), respectively.
Head coach
Jason Gonzalez gave McCleary the go-ahead in the stanza with two outs and the bases juiced as the Sweeny, Texas, native crushed a pitch from Alec Cruz to left center to clear the bases for his first career grand slam.
The Jaguars added a run to their total on a sacrifice fly from Garrett Harrison in the bottom of the eighth in an attempt to extend the game, but the effort was in vain as Hubert secured the final out on a ground ball from Fonseca.
The Javelinas will remain on the road through the weekend as they open up a four-game non-conference series against Cameron in Lawton, Okla., starting on March 16.
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