KINGSVILLE, Texas – Senior Kyle Craft (Victoria, Texas) willed the Texas A&M University-Kingsville baseball program to a win on the backend of the Saturday doubleheader at Nolan Ryan Field after No. 17 Angelo State claimed a win in the first game of the twofer.

The Javelinas (23-8, 3-4 LSC) dropped the first game to the Rams (26-11, 7-4 LSC) at 4-1, but rebounded in the second with a 3-0 decision to take the split.

GAME ONE

A prevailing wind out of the north set the tone for a chilly day at Nolan Ryan Field as both games were punctuated by small ball.

The Rams took advantage of a Hog miscue in the top of the second after Alex Salcido reached on a throwing error that allowed Mitch Henshaw to score from second, while Michael Urquidi drove a diving liner into center to plate Salcido later in the frame.

The 2-0 score held firm going into the fifth as Nick Novak increased the visitor's lead to four following a two-run single into the right center gap to cap Urquidi and Salcido in the top half of the stanza as the Hogs struggled to solve starting pitcher Shane Browning.

Browning went 5.2 innings in the game for the Rams, taking his third win of the year behind eight strikeouts, while Kellen Rholl took his seventh save in 1.1 innings of work.

Senior Levi Zents (Fort Worth, Texas) provided the lone Javelina run in the bottom of the sixth and he roped a pitch into right center and ended up at second while redshirt-sophomore Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) eventually crossed the plate.

TAMUK got the leadoff runner aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't put a dent in the score as Rholl cemented the decision at 4-1.

The Javelinas remained close throughout the game thanks to senior Christian Caudle (Klein, Texas) who gunned down three ASU runners attempting to steal, while senior Isaiah Lybarger (Corpus Christi, Texas) picked off Urquidi twice despite taking his third loss of the season.

Caudle ended up exiting the game in the bottom of the sixth after taking a pitch off the cheek from Browning.

GAME TWO

The Hogs bounced back in the backend of the doubleheader, jumping on the Rams early as senior Dallas Stefano (Cypress, Texas) opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Ullman, while junior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) laced a three-bagger down the right field line to bring in senior Austin Ingraham (Fort Worth, Texas) later in the stanza.

Junior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) provided the third, and final, run of the game as he reached on a Ram miscue that allowed Hernandez to score before Trent Baker ended the home half of the inning.

Craft took over from there, eventually retiring four on strikes while scattering four hits en route to his first complete-game shutout of the year.

The Victoria, Texas, native retired nine of the first 11 batters he faced despite Angelo State getting the leadoff runner aboard in four of the seven innings.

Craft closed his outing with a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh for his fifth win of the year.

The Javelinas will close the four-game Lone Star series against the Rams on Sunday, April 8, with first pitch at Nolan Ryan Field scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.

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