KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 14 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program had a quick turnaround following the weekend road trip after returning to Nolan Ryan Field on Tuesday and turned in an 8-1 decision over Our Lady of the Lake University to move head coach Jason Gonzales to career win no. 299 as the skipper of the Blue and Gold.
The Javelinas (21-7) jumped on the Saints (15-20) early in the bottom of the first thanks to senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) and cruised to the win as Gonzales rolled through with 15 subs, including a rotisserie of five relief pitchers, for the decision.
Ingraham drilled the third pitch of his at bat in the bottom of the first over the left center wall to cap redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) behind his fourth home run of the 2018 campaign.
The Hogs added two more in the third after junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) roped a double into right center, scoring senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas), and ended up crossing the plate later in the inning following a wild pitch from Caleb Mireles.
Mireles took his second loss of the year for OLLU after giving up seven hits and seven runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
TAMUK added three more in the fourth inning when Ullman stole second and scored on the same play as Mireles had a failed pickoff attempt at first base.
Two more runs would cross in the stanza following a fielder's choice ground ball from sophomore Hayden Fails (Sweeny, Texas) that plated Ingraham, while junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) reached on a OLLU miscue later in the at bat that allowed Hernandez to score.
The Javelinas' final run came in the form of a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning when freshman Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) worked a full count, fouled a pair of pitches off, and drew the free pass to cap sophomore Dax McCleary (Sweeny, Texas).
The Saints added a desperation run in the top of the ninth after Erik Trevino swiped third and scored on a throwing error form the catcher, but senior Seth Hubert (Riviera, Texas) ended the contest with a punchout to preserve the win.
Senior Jarred Taylor (Vidor, Texas) took the win despite throwing only four innings while the remaining staff went pitcher-by-committee. Taylor ended his outing with four strikeouts for his first decision of the year.
The Hogs will have the weekend off before gearing up for a Lone Star series against No. RV Angelo State starting on Friday, April 6, at Nolan Ryan Field.
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