STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The No. 14 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program struck first in the series opener to Tarleton State on Friday at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex, but could not find the winning combination en route to a 10-5 loss.

The Javelinas (19-5, 0-1 LSC) owned a 2-2 tie through three innings before the Texans (16-9, 1-0 LSC) tallied a run in every frame through the remainder of the contest to take the decision.

Senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) put the Hogs up in the top of the first after his ground ball to short brought in redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) for the 1-0 lead.

The Texans took two in the bottom of the second behind a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, before senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) plated classmate Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) in the top of the third to even the count at two apiece.

Zents pushed another run home in the top of the seventh as his single through the left half of the diamond brought Ingraham home yet again, but Tarleton State expanded the lead to four runs in the bottom of the stanza at 7-3 behind a run-scoring balk.

The Hogs trimmed the lead to two in the top of the eight after junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) scored on a wild pitch and followed up with a fielder's choice ground ball from Ullman to cap junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas).

TAMUK loaded the bases with two outs in an attempt to even the line score, but reliever Connor Flanagan induced a fly ball to right to end the threat.

The hosts added a trio of runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the line score at 10-5 before the Hogs were left on the backend of the decision after Eddie Avila sat the visitors down in order in the top of the ninth.

Games two and three of the series will take place on Saturday, March 24, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CT at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.

#####