KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 19 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program dropped the first game of the doubleheader at Nolan Ryan Field on Saturday to UT-Permian Basin, but rebounded with a solid performance on the backend to salvage the split.

The Javelinas (30-10, 9-6 LSC) stumbled in game one in the eventual 6-2 loss to the Falcons (7-33, 3-12 LSC), but battled back for the 7-5 win in game two as junior Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) recorded his second save of the weekend to secure the decision.

GAME ONE

The Falcons struck first in the top of the second when Dalton Drury drove the seventh pitch he saw over the left field wall, but the Hogs were quick to match in the bottom half of the stanza when senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) pulled a bounding ball single through the left side of the diamond, moved up on a groundout during the following at bat, and scored all the way from second on a passed ball during junior Dylan Hutcheson's (Wichita Falls, Texas) turn at the plate.

The evened score held firm until the fourth inning when UTPB pulled ahead on a two-run shot from Alex Wixson, but the Hogs stayed close behind when junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) drilled a double down the left field line to score senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) in the bottom half of the frame.

The visitors expanded the lead to four in the top of the sixth after Wixson tacked on two more to his total with a double into right while Andrew Donovan dropped a single to right later in the frame for a 6-2 lead favoring the Falcons.

The Javelinas got two runners aboard with one out in the bottom of the sixth, along with the leadoff runner in the bottom of the seventh, but failed to convert both chances as UTPB took the win to start the doubleheader.

Senior Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi) got the start for TAMUK in the contest and struck out nine over his four innings of work, but came away with the loss as Owen Bessette went the distance for the Falcons to take his second win of the season.

GAME TWO

The Hogs took advantage of every opportunity they had in the second game of the day despite UTPB taking an early lead in the second with a two-run shot to left from Simon Clark to start the scoring before junior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) was quick to respond with a blast to straightaway center field that plated senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) to match the run total.

TAMUK batted around in the following inning and pushed five runs across the plate to take a 7-2 lead. Stefano started the rally with an RBI single back up the middle to cap Zents while Caudle added another following a wild pitch during redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman's (Houston, Texas) at bat.

Ullman tallied two more for the hosts with a two-run liner to left that brought Hernandez and Stefano home, while redshirt-junior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) capped the inning with a single down the left field line that scored Ullman, who raced all the way from first to beat the throw at the plate.

Junior Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) turned in a solid outing for the Hogs as he went five innings of two-hit ball while striking out 10 to take his fifth win of the season. Senior Seth Hubert (Riviera, Texas) worked through a bases-loaded jam in the sixth before Valdez closed the seventh for his fourth save of the year.

The final game of the Lone Star series is set for Sunday, April 22, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Nolan Ryan Field.

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