PORTALES, N.M. – The No. RV/17 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program closed the series against Eastern New Mexico in convincing fashion on Monday at Greyhound Field with a deluge of runs for the series win in Lone Star action.
The Javelinas (28-9. 7-5 LSC) tallied a run in every inning of the shortened game to speed past the Greyhounds (17-19, 3-13 LSC) en route to clinching the series.
The first inning started off eerily similar to the backend of Sunday's doubleheader as the Hogs took advantage of command issues from ENMU's pitching staff by getting the first three batters of the game on base with a free pass.
Redshirt-sophomore
Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas), junior
Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) and senior
Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) all reached as the Hounds' starter Cesar Capellan failed to send a pitch through the strike zone.
Senior
Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) opted for the traditional route of getting the runs home as he took the payoff pitch of his at bat through the right side to plate Loredo and Ullman.
Sophomore
Brad Jones (Crandall, Texas) showcased his discipline on a full count to draw the walk that brought Zents home before Stefano scored on a passed ball in the following at bat.
Freshman
Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) drove the fourth pitch he saw into center field to plate junior
Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba), while junior
Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) capped the six-run rally with a sacrifice fly to left to bring Jones home.
The first inning set the stage for what was to come for the rest of the day as senior
Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi, Texas) toed the pitcher's plate for the Blue and Gold and turned five innings of work with seven punchouts and only two runs given up, one earned. Lybarger would go on to claim his third win of the year before junior
Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) and junior
Garrett Alexander (Spring, Texas) went back-to-back in the sixth and seventh, respectively, to close the contest.
Valdez would pitch a near-flawless sixth inning as he issued one walk while striking out the remaining three batters to lower his ERA to 1.35 so far on the year..
Meanwhile, the Hogs piled on runs with three more in the second, getting one each on a ground ball from Zents, a triple from Hernandez and a liner into left from Jones. It was Hernandez's second triple-bagger of the year for the run.
ENMU got its first run off Lybarger after Endy Villalona scored on a failed pickoff attempt, but Lybarger would settle in and strike out the final batter to end any attempt to further chip away at the lead.
The Javelinas tallied three more in the third starting with a fielder's choice ground ball from Zents that allowed redshirt-freshman
Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) to score, while Ullman ended up crossing the plate on the same play following a Greyhound miscue from the attempted double play.
Stefano's triple to right center would add the third run of the frame as Zents made his way to the plate. Stefano currently leads the team with three triples.
The Hounds got their second off Lybarger with a Julian Heredia double down the left field line, but Servin was quick to match for TAMUK with his second homer of the series over the left field wall to set the line score at 13-2 heading into the fifth.
Senior
Travis Geiser (Portland, Texas) tacked on another for the visitors with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth before four more crossed in the sixth innings, started by redshirt-junior
Tim Gleinser's (Victoria, Texas) ground ball that was misplayed by the defense.
A fielder's choice RBI from Zents added another to the Hogs' total, while Hernandez and junior
Donovan Lewis (Alvin, Texas) both drew bases-loaded walks for an 18-2 Javelina lead going into the final stanza.
TAMUK's final two runs in the seventh came in the form of a sacrifice fly from Geiser for the first, while sophomore
Dax McCleary (Sweeny, Texas) was plated on a wild pitch.
The 20 runs are the most for the Javelinas since Feb. 4, 2017, when they defeated Wiley College, 20-4, at Nolan Ryan Field. It is the third time the Hogs have reached 20 runs under the direction of head coach
Jason Gonzales as the Blue and Gold first reached the mark on April 18, 2015, in a 22-5 win over the Greyhounds in Portales.
ENMU added its final run in the seventh but turned out to be in vain as Alexander got a popup to short before sitting down the final batter on strikes to end the game.
The Javelinas will return to Kingsville over the weekend when they host UT-Permian Basin in an LSC matchup starting on April 20. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Nolan Ryan Field.
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