SAN ANTONIO - The [6/5] Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program jumped out to an early lead on Friday at Dickson Stadium in San Antonio, but couldn't maintain the momentum en route to a 8-4 loss to St. Mary's to start the three-game series.
 
The Javelinas (3-4) put together 14 hits at the plate but it wasn't enough to overcome untimely miscues as the Rattlers (7-3) used a four-run eighth inning to secure the decision.
 
Senior Donovan Lewis (Alvin, Texas) started the scoring for the Hogs in the top of the second with a double into the left center gap, scoring sophomore Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas).
 
A seeing-eye single from redshirt sophomore Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) dropped into left later in the same frame to push senior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) home as the Blue and Gold held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom half of the frame.
 
StMU cracked the egg on the scoreboard one inning later after Derek Mueller reached on a Hog error, which allowed Mario Vela to score for a 2-1 Javelina lead.
 
The cushion was summarily erased with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth after Donnie Perez skied the 0-2 pitch from senior Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) over the wall for a three-run home run to double up TAMUK at 4-2 going into the sixth.
 
Plovanich got the hook at the start of the sixth as he finished with four strikeouts on the day, moving his record to 1-2 on the year.
 
Redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) kept the line score within one as he bounced a single back up the middle to plate Servin in the top of the eighth, but the deficit grew in the bottom half of the stanza starting with Mitchell Caskey's double to center field to bring Andrew Perez home.
 
Vela pushed a single through the left half of the diamond to cap Caskey later in the at bat, while a five-pitch walk to Mueller brought Vela home as the final pitch ended up wild.
 
A passed ball on a strikeout to Donnie Perez allowed the final run to come home and the Hogs faced an 8-3 disadvantage heading into the final inning.
 
TAMUK had some life left at the plate as redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) pushed a two-out, 0-2 pitch from Levi Hon back up the middle to start the rally.
 
Servin followed up with a four-pitch walk while Lewis ended on the bags after getting hit by a pitch to load up the bases for Hutcheson.
 
Hutcheson worked a four-pitch walk of his own to bring a run home, but a fly ball to deep left center from Hernandez fell just short of the mark at the warning track and the Javelinas had to take the loss in game one at 8-4.
 
Servin ended with three hits in four at bats, all singles, while Loredo provided the pop with two hits, one of which went in as a double.
 
Junior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) added a pair of singles to his early-season total, while Hernandez rounded out the quartet with two singles to his name.
 
Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. CT at Dickson Stadium.
 
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