LAWTON, Okla. – The No. 16 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program posted 10 runs by the end of the third inning and endured a late rally from Cameron University on Friday at McCord Field to take the series-opening win at 13-9.

The Javelinas (17-3) tallied 16 hits in the box, led by three each from juniors Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) and Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas), and needed a three-inning save from freshman Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) to take the win over the Aggies (9-11).

Senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) opened up the scoring with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first, bringing in redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas), while senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) sent a ground ball to second to cap senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) before Hernandez reached on an error by the third baseman that allowed senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) to score.

Junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) ended the rally with a single back up the middle to plate Hernandez for a 4-0 Javelina lead heading into the bottom of the first.

Loredo padded the Hogs' lead with a leadoff solo shot in the top of the second, his third of the year.

Cameron got on the board in the bottom of the stanza when Mitch Sloan doubled back up the middle to push Michael Flohr across the plate.

Hernandez got the run back, and more, in the top of the third as he drove a pitch from Andrew Garza (1-3) into left center for a 7-1 TAMUK lead. Garza took the loss for the Aggies after giving up 11 runs in 5.2 innings of work.

Redshirt-junior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) added two more in the inning with a single through the right side, bringing in Loredo and Hucheson, while Ingraham's RBI groundout to the shortstop brought Gonzalez home for a 10-1 score favoring the visitors.

Micah Kaaukai trimmed CU's deficit to eight in the bottom of the third with an RBI triple that scored Briton Schiewe, before Hernandez put it back at nine at 11-2 with a single up the middle to score Zents in the top of the sixth.

The Aggies shaved six runs off the Javelina lead in the bottom of the sixth after loading the bases with no outs, getting one on a single from Luke Hughes, one on a fielder's choice ground ball from Trey Bigford and one on a single from Cole Williams, while Kaaukai cleared the bases with a single down the left field line to set the line score at 11-8 favoring the Hogs.

Cameron got within two after Hughes doubled into the right center gap in the bottom of the seventh, but Caudle put the cushion back at four with his second round tripper of the year on a blast to left for a 13-9 lead in the top of the ninth.

Flores finished his outing by sitting the Aggies down in order for his second save of the year. Junior Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) went 5.2 innings in the contest, striking out four en route to his third win of the season.

Games two and three will take place on Saturday at McCord Field, with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 1 p.m. CT.

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