KINGSVILLE, Texas – Freshman Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.) crushed her first homer as a Javelina and fellow rookie Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) notched her seventh win of the year as the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team breezed to an 9-1, run-rule victory in their Lone Star Conference opener against the Texas Woman's Pioneers on Friday night at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javelinas have now won 13 straight to begin the season and are 1-0 in league play. The Pioneers fall to 2-7 overall and 0-1 in the LSC.
"We made adjustments the second time through [the order]," said Coach Craig Nicholson, "especially our right-handed hitters. We scored five runs with two outs in the fourth. Its great to see us do that."
It took TAMUK a few innings to get going, as they were held without a hit for the first three stanzas, but they quickly found their stroke in the fourth. With two outs, a single by freshman Veronica Chavez (Tempe, Ariz.) was followed by a screaming double from senior Roxy Chapa (McAllen, Texas) that plated the night's first run. Sophomore Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas) and senior Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.) each added to the lead with RBI singles, making the score 3-0 and bringing up Onofrei. The freshman from Mesa smoked the first pitch of the at-bat over the wall in left-center, capping her team's five run rally.
In the fifth, two more runs came across when freshmen Amber Reyes (Edinburg, Texas) and Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) both singled and later scored on an error.
TWU got on the board in sixth thanks to an RBI double by Tylia Sylestine, but that was all Castillo would allow. She struck out nine with only one walk in six innings. In all five of her starts, she's logged at least five Ks and her ERA now stands at 0.84 with a 7-0 record.
"It's great to have a pitching staff that keeps us in the ballgame if we don't get going early," said Nicholson. "We can't rely on that, but if they can go out there and do what they've been doing all year, they're going to give us a chance."
The Javelinas closed out the night in the sixth on a rally that began with a pair of walks. A single by Reyes loaded the bases and, after fielder's choice brought in one run, sophomore Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) raced home on the back end of a double steal for the clinching tally.
Two more matchups between these programs are on tap for Saturday, with the day's first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. To stay up-to-date with Javelina softball all year long, follow @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
