KINGSVILLE, Texas – Senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas), in only his fourth game back from injury, stepped up to the plate with one out and two on in the bottom of the ninth for the No. 19 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program on Sunday at Nolan Ryan Field and took the 3-2 pitch through the left side of the infield for an exhilarating finale win over UT-Permian Basin.

Caudle fouled off a pair of pitches before pulling the seventh pitch he saw past a diving Cooper Coe at third base into the outfield to bring a sprinting senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) home to take the 6-5 win for the Javelinas (31-10, 10-6 LSC) in a thrilling walk-off fashion over the Falcons (7-34, 3-13 LSC).

Both sides took the roundabout way en route to a 5-5 tied heading into what would be the final inning as the Hogs got on the board first in the bottom of the second when junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) roped a liner into right center to cap Caudle.

TAMUK built the lead up to five in the bottom of the fifth after redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) pushed a pitch from Ivan Thomas into left center to bring senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) home, igniting the four-run rally.

The Falcons went to the bullpen and brought in Matt Symczak in an attempt to stem the tide, but a groundball from junior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) had other ideas as Ullman scored.

Zents would reach on an error in the following at bat before scoring on a double into left from senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas), while Stefano swiped third and came home on a bounding ball through the right side from junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) for a 5-0 Javelina lead heading into the sixth.

The visitors got the runs back during the ensuing at bat as Mitchell Hazlett lined a pitch into right center to score Andrew Donovan, while Skylar Palermo drew a free pass with the bases loaded to score Tony Oslovar, which prompted a change on the mound from the Hogs.

Head coach Jason Gonzales rotated through two pitchers on the bump as the Falcons got another run on a bases-loaded walk followed by a single into right from Alex Wixson, before sophomore Tyler Crouch (Bulverde, Texas) came in and sat the final two batters down to preserve a 5-4 TAMUK lead.

UTPB evened the count at five apiece in the seventh when Christ Ortega led the inning off with a shot down the left field line that curved just inside the foul pole, but Crouch would eventually work out of the inning with two runners stranded to prevent the Falcons from going ahead.

The Javelinas had bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the eighth but couldn't produce a run as Symczak got the final batter out on a fly ball to left to set the stage for the ninth inning.

Redshirt-senior Trey Taylor (Leander, Texas), who had entered the game in the top of the eighth and worked a quick inning on 11 pitches, got the bill for the ninth and worked a three-up, three-down frame to kept the line score steady at 5-5 going into the bottom half of the stanza.

Symczak got the first Javelina batter out before the Falcons went to the bullpen for Cale Thornton with Zents striding to the plate. Zents bounced a high-chopper to the shortstop and beat the throw, while Stefano followed suit with an infield single to third to bring Caudle to the box.

Caudle worked the full count and got a second life when he fouled a pitch over the third base dugout in playable territory for the UTPB that fell to the ground untouched.

The next pitch was taken for a ride through the left side of the diamond past the outstretched glove of Coe and Zents got the green light rounding third before he dove headfirst into home to give the win to the Hogs at 6-5.

Caudle, seeing only his fourth game back from injury after taking a pitch to the chin in the series against Angelo State, was mobbed by a pack of Hogs at the mound as the Javelinas recorded their 12 win in the previous 15 contests.

TAMUK will have a crucial series coming up next weekend as they travel to Canyon, Texas, to face No. 6 West Texas A&M for a four-game Lone Star series. The Buffs are currently atop the LSC standings with the Javelinas sitting in third with two weeks to go in conference play.

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