KINGSVILLE, Texas – After finishing off a seven-game road swing with a doubleheader sweep at the expense of Arkansas-Monticello, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is back on their home diamond for five consecutive games at Hubert Field, beginning with three against the Tarleton State TexAnns starting Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a twin bill with the Oklahoma Christian Eagles on Monday, with game one's first pitch to be thrown at 3 p.m.
In Tarleton State, the Javelinas will be taking on a team that's put together an overall record of 20-6 and is receiving votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. Despite those accomplishments, the TexAnns have posted a record of 6-6 in the Lone Star Conference, putting them one game behind TAMUK in league play. The TexAnns will also be attempting to become the first unranked team to win a game on Kingsville's home field in 2018, as the only three Javelina losses at Hubert Field so far this season came against No. 4 Angelo State.
The Eagles come to Kingsville still searching for consistency. They started the season 1-5 before winning six straight and now stand at 13-12. Before arriving at Hubert Field, the Eagles will first stop in Laredo for three with the Texas A&M International Dustdevils before visiting the Javelinas for the second straight season. In 2017, OCU swept two hard-fought contests, taking the first game in extra innings before coming back to take the second with a late rally.
Senior Sarah Gilbert (Chipley, Fla.) and sophomore Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) each suffered losses at the hands of the Eagles a year ago, but both have been indispensable to the Javelinas in 2018. They've helped the Hoggies post an earned run average of 2.49, the LSC's second best and each pitched a shutout against Arkansas-Monticello. Smith has reached 10 wins for the second consecutive year, a total that puts her fourth in LSC. Her career total of 20 victories already has her in 10th place on TAMUK's all-time wins list.
Gilbert has continued a stretch of phenomenal pitching that began with an outing of 8 1-3 innings against Midwestern State in which she allowed just one run. Since then, in eight appearances, the right-hander has not allowed more than a single earned run, while collecting three shutouts. In her last 52 innings, Gilbert has permitted four earned runs. Over the course of her last eight games, Gilbert's ERA has dropped from 3.82 to 1.81, putting the Florida native in third place in that statistic in the LSC.
"[Gilbert and Smith] have gotten better as the season's gone along," said coach Craig Nicholson. "We don't want to overwork them in the preseason and I think we did pretty good job of spacing out their workouts so we'd have them healthy at the beginning of the year. They've thrown a lot of innings and they're going to continue to throw a lot of innings, but I think they're in a good spot right now. They're both healthy and feeling good and as long as we keep them there, we'll keep moving forward."
Two spots behind Gilbert (among those with at least 50 IP) is Tarleton's Jordan Withrow, who is currently 11-4 with a 2.35 ERA. In 18 appearances, including 13 starts, Withrow has given up more than three earned runs twice. Withrow pitched against the Javelinas three times last season and figured into the decision in each contest, picking up a win, a loss and a save.
"The big thing [for us] will be to string quality at-bats together," said Nicholson. "She's a high-strikeout kid. We're going to have some strikeouts, but when we get opportunities, we need to make sure we're bearing down and having good at-bats."
The series between the Javelinas and the TexAnns will include the LSC's top three student-athletes in terms of innings pitched. Withrow leads the conference with 95.1 IP and she's followed by Gilbert's 85 and Smith's 82.
Attempting to solve these hurlers will be a Tarleton offense that's hitting .347, third in the LSC, and a Javelina lineup that owns an average of .259, the conference's ninth-best. The Javelinas just finished flexing their offensive muscle in their sweep of Arkansas-Monticello. They hit three homers in those two games, including a grand slam by junior Lauren Oatman (Fort Worth, Texas). Junior Roxy Chapa (McAllen, Texas) chipped in with her sixth round-tripper of the season, a total that places her in a tie for ninth in the LSC.
"We just need to continue to do a good job offensively," said Nicholson. "There have been points in the season where we've struggled. It was good for us to break out a little in the last game, but we have to keep that going. I think for some people, there are some light bulbs going off and we're starting to figure some things out. Up-and-down our lineup, we need to continue to have quality at-bats and if we string them together, that's how we're going to score runs."
The TexAnns' lineup revolves around one of the most dangerous hitters in the league, infielder Georgia Capell, who's third in conference with 10 homers and her .943 slugging percentage also has her in the top five.
Oklahoma Christian owns the best batting average in the Heartland Conference at .298, but they've only hit six homers so far this season and sit in fifth place in the conference in terms of runs scored. Four of the Heartland's top 10 hitters call Edmund home, led by Madison Nordyke's .390 BA. Bridget White's average is just three points lower than her teammates and she's been the most productive player for coach Tom Heath through 25 games, belting three homers and driving in 15 runs, both team-highs.
Complete coverage of each contest from Hubert Field, including live stats and postgame recaps, can be found through Javelinaathletics.com. To keep up with the Javelinas all season long, visit Javelinaathletics.com, follow @TAMUKSB on Twitter, like /JavelinaSports on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina athletics YouTube channel.
