CANYON, Texas – The No. RV/18 Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program blitzed No. 6/10 West Texas A&M in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Wilder Park, but missed out on the twin bill sweep after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the second game.

The Javelinas (32-12, 11-8 LSC) got a brilliant outing from senior Jarred Taylor (Vidor, Texas) on the bump in game one en route to a 23-1 throttling of the Buffs (34-10, 16-3 LSC), but late-inning heroics from WT on the backend nixed any hope of a perfect day as the Hogs were kept on the downside of a 5-4 decision.

GAME ONE

TAMUK put the pressure on the Buffs early and often on the frontend after getting 12 runs on the board by the end of the second inning. Senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) started the first-inning rally with an RBI liner to right to bring junior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) home.

Senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) added another with a groundball to second, while a bounding ball back up the middle from sophomore Brad Jones (Crandall, Texas) brought home the third run of the inning.

A triple to left center from junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) cleared the bases as junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) and Jones were plated, before Hutcheson scored during the next at bat on a passed ball to set the visitor's total to six heading into the second.

Six more runs would come home for the Hogs in the following at bat after an RBI double to center from Loredo capped redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) to ignite the second-inning run. An infield single from Stefano brought Loredo in before a two-run double to left from Jones pushed Stefano and senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) across to give TAMUK a double-digit lead.

Hutcheson's groundball to second brought Caudle in before redshirt-junior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) ended the rally with a single back up the middle to score Jones for a 12-0 lead favoring the Blue and Gold.

Taylor found the groove early on in the game as he went the distance to pick up his third win of the year, scattering three hits over the course of his outing while striking out four.

Meanwhile, the Hogs tacked on five more in the fourth, getting two off a triple from Hernandez, who came home in the next at bat on an errant pitch, while Zents added one of his own after driving the ball into left.

A miscue from the Buffs later in the inning granted Loredo access to home to set the line score at 17-0 heading into the fifth.

The final six runs for the Javelinas came in the fifth as one each came home on a bases-loaded free pass from Zents and senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas), while redshirt-freshman Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) plated a pair on a double down the left field line.

Hernandez pushed a single back up the middle for his third RBI of the day, before another miscue from WT scored Arnold for an insurmountable 23-0 lead with two innings of play remaining.

The Buffs added a desperation run in the bottom of the sixth following a triple down the left field line from Ethan Washburn, but Taylor remain unfazed as he sat down the final batter of the frame before working out of a two-out, two-on jam in the seventh for the win.

In total, the Hogs had 18 hits as a team as Hernandez led the way with three of his own. The Javelinas had five members with a multi-hit day as Ullman, Zents, Stefano and Jones all added a pair in the contest.

GAME TWO

The backend of the doubleheader became the Mr. Hyde game for the Hogs despite taking an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first as TAMUK appeared to be heading for a similar outcome to the first game.

Zents brought the first one in on a groundball to second, scoring Ullman, while Stefano reached on a miscue from WT that brought Loredo home before Caudle ended the rally with a double to right and scoring another error in the same play.

The lead held firm until the Hogs pushed a fourth home in the top of the fourth when Hutcheson doubled into right to bring in Jones for a 4-0 lead heading into the fifth.

Senior Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi, Texas) worked a decent outing through the first five innings, striking out seven before getting the hook after facing the first three batters in the sixth. The Buffs got a leadoff double from Bodie Bryan, who score on a liner into right from Jimmy Cubillos, while Nick Canas skied a shot to left to trim the lead to one and prompting a pitching change.

Junior Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) got the bill and struck out the first batter he saw, but a TAMUK miscue on an infield groundball spelled doom for the Hogs as Tag Baxter reached on an errant throw.

Valdez struck out the next batter he saw before issuing a walk, while the game-tying run came home on an infield single from Devin Carter. The Javelinas had a fighting chance in the seventh, however, after the Lehman H.S. product induced a fly ball to right to end the stanza.

Unfortunately, TAMUK could not produce a run in the top half in what would be the final frame while the hosts needed only two batters in the bottom half to walk off with the decision. Bryan led the home half off with a double to left and scored on the next at bat as Cubillios found a gap back up the middle for the 5-4 final.

The Javelinas will close out the Lone Star series against the Buffs on Sunday, April 29, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. CT at Wilder Park.

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