KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program will return to the diamond after a 10-day hiatus to face No. 17 Angelo State in a Lone Star Conference series starting on Friday, April 6, at Nolan Ryan Field.
The Hogs suffered their first series loss in a month after Tarleton State took three of four in Stephenville, Texas, to knock the Javelinas out of the NCBWA Poll. The Texans took the first three games of the series before the Blue and Gold rebounded with a 14-1 win in game four.
TAMUK kept the momentum going into a Tuesday bout against Our Lady of the Lake with an 8-1 win over the Saints in Kingsville before the break.
The Javelinas own a 21-7 overall record in 2018 so far with a 1-3 mark in LSC play following the series against Tarleton State. Senior
Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) leads the Blue and Gold with a .373 average in 27 games played behind 28 hits, four doubles, a pair of triples and 18 RBI.
Senior
Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) brings the power for the Hogs as his .511 slugging percentage is courtesy of four home runs and seven doubles on top of his 26 hits for a .295 average.
On the bump, the Javelinas will feature a cavalcade of arms to use as senior
Jarred Taylor (Vidor, Texas), freshman
Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) and junior
Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) all own a sub-2.00 ERA with at least seven appearances.
Taylor leads the way with a 1.32 ERA on 13.2 innings pitched and 12 strikeouts, while Flores is close behind with a 1.45 ERA on 18.2 innings pitched and 21 strikeouts, and saw his first start on the mound in game four against the Texans en route to the decision that moved him to 2-0 on the year with a pair of saves.
Valdez rounds out the trio with a 1.72 ERA on 15.2 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts.
Senior
Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi, Texas) and junior
Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) lead the team in strikeouts as Lybarger owns 33 while Plovanich is close behind at 31.
The 17th-ranked Rams are 25-9 on the year, 6-2 in the LSC, following a 3-1 series win over TSU at home over the past weekend. Angelo State has at least won a share of its series dating back to February 23 with series splits against CSU-Pueblo and West Texas A&M.
Junior Michael Urquidi leads the Rams with a .377 average on 43 hits, seven doubles, one triple and three home runs to go with 25 RBI. Urquidi is one of five starts to hit over .300 on the year so far as ASU is hitting .316 as a team.
Sophomore Nicholas Novak is close behind with a .370 average but leads the team with a .546 slugging percentage thanks to five doubles, one triple and four home runs.
ASU will rely heavily on the bullpens as four hurlers have made at least 10 appearances, led by 16 from senior Khellan Rohl as he owns a 2.79 ERA on 19.1 innings pitched and 31 strikeouts, to go with his six saves and 3-1 record.
Junior Tyler Lesley will get the bill in the starting rotation as his 8-1 record is courtesy of a 2.26 ERA on 59.2 innings pitched and a team-leading 49 strikeouts.
Game one of the series between the Hogs and the Rams is scheduled for Friday, April 6, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. CT.
#####
