CANYON, Texas – The No. RV/18 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program fought its way back into game one against No. 6/10 West Texas A&M on Friday at Wilder Park but the comeback attempt fell short of the finish line as the decision favored the hosts at 12-9.

The Javelinas (31-11, 10-7 LSC) pushed five runs across in the final two innings, but the Buffs (33-9, 15-2 LSC) would eventually hold out to hand the Hogs their third series-opening loss of the year.

The Buffs wasted little time to start the scoring as they posted a pair of runs in the bottom of the first off a single from Nick Canas and a double from Luis Amaro.

The Hogs got the runs back in the top of the third after redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) drove a bounding ball back up the middle and a misplay by the center fielder granted redshirt-junior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) access to the plate, before Ullman scored later in the frame thanks to a sacrifice fly from senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas).

WT responded with another pair of runs in the bottom half of the stanza when Canas sent the second pitch of his at bat over the left center fence to double up the visitors, but TAMUK trimmed the deficit back to one after Gonzalez found a gap through the left half of the diamond to cap junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) in the top of the fourth.

The hosts tallied five runs in the home half of the fourth after Bodie Bryan started the scoring with a liner into left for the first, while Jimmy Cubillos followed up with a fielder's choice ground ball that added the second. Tag Baxter added the final three after he cleared the bases with a triple to center for a 9-3 West Texas A&M lead going into the fifth.

Stefano skied his third round-tripper of the year in the top of the fifth after taking the 3-2 pitch to right center, while a sacrifice fly from senior Travis Geiser (Portland, Texas) and a double from Hernandez in the eighth kept the Javelinas within three for a 9-6 line score heading into the bottom of the inning.

The Buffs added the runs back during their eighth-inning at bat after getting two from Amaro and another one on a wild pitch, while the Hogs got a three-run blast from Geiser in the top of the ninth in a final attempt to sway momentum back their way.

The rally fell short, unfortunately, as WT worked out of the inning despite allowing a two-out single to sophomore Dax McCleary (Sweeny, Texas).

The Javelinas will take on the Buffs in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 28, for games two and three of the Lone Star series, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. CT at Wilder Park.

#####