KINGSVILLE, Texas – Coming off an emotional series against the Cameron Aggies, during which the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team took two-out-of-three, the Javelinas will be pitted against the team that sits atop the Heartland Conference, the St. Mary's Rattlers, who will visit Hubert Field for a doubleheader on Friday that begins at 5 p.m. in Kingsville, Texas.
Coach Donna Fields has had her team in pole position in the Heartland all season long. They began the league year by winning 10 straight and are currently 15-2, four games ahead of second-place Rogers State, to go along with a 27-12 overall mark. While this will be first meeting between TAMUK and SMU this season, the Rattlers have had plenty of experience against Lone Star Conference competition in 2018. In 14 games, they've won five and lost nine, with their most impressive victory being a 3-0 shutout of No. 4 Angelo State on March 12th.
Strong pitching has been St. Mary's hallmark this season and they rank in the top 20 in the nation with an earned run average of 1.89. Fields's workhorse has been sophomore righty Staci Johns, who's pitched to an ERA of 1.62 in 130 innings. No one in the Heartland has thrown more innings than Johns and her ERA is the league's third best. Freshman Alex McLennan has provided a useful arm out of the bullpen. She's made 16 relief appearances and owns a 1.45 ERA to go with five saves.
"They have a couple kids with a lot of experience," said coach Craig Nicholson. "They move the ball around, they hit their spots. They also change speeds well. They're going to pitch well, but I also expect us to pitch well."
The Javelinas will be looking to continue the success they've been able to find against Heartland Conference foes. Kingsville's 8-4 mark against teams from the HC includes a sweep of St. Edwards on Feb. 27th, as well as four wins over Texas A&M International without a defeat.
Nicholson and his team will also be attempting to utilize a home field advantage that, for the most part, has served them well this season. Kingsville has played to a record of 10-8 at Hubert Field and six of those eight losses have come at the hands of ranked teams, as the Javs have been on the short end of sweeps by No. 4 Angelo State and No. 20 Tarleton State.
Another mark in TAMUK's favor is the re-emergence of junior first baseman Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.). After homering twice in her team's series with No. 9 Texas A&M-Commerce, the California native brought the Javs from behind in their series opener against the Aggies, singling in two runs, including the game-winner, with two outs in the seventh, clinching a 3-2 victory. With nine RBIs in her last five games, Schoonard-Saborio has jumped into a second-place tie in that category on the Javelina leaderboard. Junior Roxy Chapa (McAllen, Texas) still owns the top spot in that statistic on TAMUK's roster with 24. She added her team-high eighth homer of the season in Kingsville's second win over Cameron on Thursday.
"[Roxy] is probably our biggest source of power," said Nicholson. "Some of the teams we've played recently have tried to pitch around her, while some have chosen to pitch to her. When she gets good pitches to hit and stays disciplined, she's having a lot of success."
The trio of Brenda Iparraguirre, Adigale Carney and Alessandra Ortiz has driven St. Mary's offense in 2018. All three can claim batting averages over .320, as well as more than 20 RBIs. Carney leads the team with five dingers while Iparraguirre's .339 BA and 35 RBIs are team-highs. Those 35 RBIs also have Iparraguirre sitting in second place in the Heartland Conference.
That trio of Rattlers will have to contend with a pitching staff that includes a red-hot Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas). Kingsville's sophomore lefty was recently snubbed for LSC Pitcher of the Week honors despite a weekend against Cameron that saw her throw 15 1-3 innings without allowing an earned run. Nicholson will also be looking for a bounce-back effort from senior Sarah Gilbert (Chipley, Fla.), who took the loss in the series finale against the Aggies, but still owns the team's best ERA at 2.56.
"We're in a spot now where we need to win a lot of ballgames down the stretch," said Nicholson, "and both [Breanna] and Sarah are going to have be a big part [of that]. The way we're going to have to win is to execute offensively, pitch well and play good defense. I know that puts a lot of pressure on those two to come out and perform on an everyday basis, but they've done a good job over the last month of the season."
For live coverage of Friday's doubleheader, including live stats and video and a postgame recap, visit Javelinaathletics.com. To keep up with the Javelinas all season long, visit Javelinaathletics.com, follow @TAMUKSB on Twitter, like /JavelinaSports on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina athletics YouTube channel.
