PORTALES, N.M. – Freshmen Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) and Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas) and senior Rachael Longoria (Hutto, Texas) each totaled three hits and seven different players drove in a run, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team dropped a 12-11 decision in 11 innings to the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds on Friday night at Greyhound Field in Portales, N.M.
The Javelina record now stands at 22-21 and 9-13 in the Lone Star Conference. ENMU's conference mark of 9-16 is accompanied by an 18-27 overall record.
The Javs scored the first run of the final frame when junior Lauren Oatman (Fort Worth, Texas) hit a sacrifice fly that allowed junior Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.) to scamper home with the go-ahead run. However, a walk and a hit batter followed by three consecutive singles, the final one by Elena Garcia, sent TAMUK down to defeat.
The offenses wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard. A single and a hit batter put TAMUK's first two hitters on in the opening frame and, two batters later, Leibas slapped a single through the middle to plate the game's first run. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, senior Haley Boyett (Waco, Texas) drew her team-leading 21st walk of the season, bumping the Javelina lead to 2-0.
A response from the Greyhounds came swiftly, as they packed the sacks with nobody outs against sophomore Breanna Smith (13-12) (San Antonio, Texas) and Garcia's single drove in a pair to tie the game. A wild pitch later in the inning allowed ENMU to grab a slim lead.
In the second, the home team loaded the bases again, this time with one out, for Jennifer McElroy. The freshman took the third pitch of the at-bat over the center field fence for a grand slam, extending the Greyhound lead to 7-2. A homer by Garcia two batters later upped it to 8-2.
A pair of hits, a deep fly ball and a groundout in the third allowed the Javs to creep to within five and they cut into the deficit even further in the fourth. The first two hitters reached and were soon on second and third for junior Roxy Chapa (McAllen, Texas). Chapa reached on a fielder's choice that scored senior Alexei Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas). A groundout then brought in Kelly and Longoria smacked a single up the middle for the third run of the inning, drawing the visitors to within 8-6.
Another Garcia home run put ENMU up by three, but the Javs continued to battle and put together another rally in the sixth when two hits and a walk put runners on every base again. From there, three consecutive fielder's choices, none of which resulted in an out, each pushed across a run and the Javelinas had come all the way back to forge a 9-9 tie.
In the seventh, the Javs seized the lead thanks to a two-out rally that began with a Longoria double. A bunt single from Boyett followed and on the play, Longoria raced all the way around with the go-ahead run, putting Kingsville in front. That lead was short-lived, however, as Precious Aguirre scored on a fielder's choice and an error in the bottom of the seventh, knotting the score at 10. The teams would play on from there until the 11th.
TAMUK and ENMU will play a pair on Saturday, with the first pitch time for game one scheduled for 1 p.m. 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.
