SAN ANTONIO - The [6/5] Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program was back in form on Saturday at Dickson Stadium to come away with a doubleheader sweep of St. Mary's to claim the series win behind a 10-7 decision in game one and a 6-3 final in game two.
 
"This was a tough, hard-fought weekend," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "I'm very proud of the way we competed. The only way you win a series on the road is with tough guys.
 
"We got back to playing Pack baseball today."
 
The Javelinas (5-4) took advantage of four Rattler (7-4) errors in first game to take the win, and used a one-two punch on the mound in the second contest to secure the series.
 
GAME ONE
 
Newcomer Cameron Melcher (Kerrville, Texas) opened the scoring on the frontend with a three-run blast to give the Hogs a lead in the top of the second. Redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) added a two-run double later in the at bat to cap junior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) and redshirt senior Tim Gleinser (Victoria, Texas) for a 5-0 TAMUK lead going into the third.
 
A triple from redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) in the top of the third kept the runs flowing for the Blue and Gold as classmate Donovan Lewis (Alvin, Texas) scored, while Hernandez ended up scoring later in the stanza on a foul fly ball down the line in right field foul territory for a 7-0 cushion.
 
Meanwhile, senior Joshua Valdez (Kyle, Texas) stymied StMU through the first two innings before the hosts got on the board in the third.
 
A bases-clearing double from Keaton Milford trimmed the lead to 7-3 but Valdez made quick work of the final batter to keep the bleeding to a minimum.
 
Junior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) ensured the cushion would grow yet again as he took advantage of an errant throw from Colton Parrish after stealing third and made it home safely for a five-run advantage, while a bases-loaded walk issued to Melcher turned Loredo into the fourth RBI of the day for a 9-3 line score favoring the Hogs.
 
St. Mary's added three more runs in the fourth to trim the score down to 9-6 before Valdez got the hook for redshirt junior Alex Canul (Edinburg, Texas) in the fifth. Canul limited the Rattlers to one run through the next three innings as he assembled his second save of the year.
 
A sacrifice fly from redshirt freshman Matthew Stary (Houston, Texas) that capped senior Dylan Hutcheson (Wichita Falls, Texas) became the final run of the contest for the Blue and Gold, while St. Mary's tacked on a final run of their own in the seven to set the line score at 10-7.
 
Hernandez and Loredo each finished with two hits in the contest, with the former pushing out his seventh career triple while the latter added a double.
 
Valdez took the win with four strikeouts in four innings of work, while Canul took away his second save behind four strikeouts in three innings on the hill.
 
GAME TWO
 
The Javelinas wasted little time taking the lead on the backend of the doubleheader as sophomore Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) ripped a two-run liner into the left center gap to plate Loredo and Spinn for an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
 
Freshman Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas) added two more in the frame with his first career double dropped into right to cap Lewis and Servin for a four-run cushion going into the bottom half of the stanza.
 
Spinn added another in the top half of the second as he fouled off three pitches from Branson Hall before taking the seventh pitch of the at bat back up the middle to push redshirt senior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) across.
 
Loredo added what became the final run for the Hogs with a near-identical bounding ball back up the middle to bring Spinn home for a 6-0 TAMUK lead through only nine outs.
 
Meanwhile, junior Zach Boyett (Robinson, Texas) was almost flawless through the first five innings of work as StMU managed only one run on a fielder's choice RBI from Donnie Perez in the bottom of the third to crack the egg on the scoreboard.
 
Boyett managed three punchouts in the first five innings before adding another in the sixth. The Rattlers tacked on two more in the home half of his final inning of work courtesy of a two-run double to left from Johnny Hernandez.
 
A critical relay from Hutcheson to Bonuz on the following at bat ended any attempt to further chip away at the lead as Hernandez was gunned down at the plate on a double to left from Patrick Fennell, keeping the Javelinas up by three at 6-3 going into the seventh.
 
Boyett handed the keys to senior Eric Sandoz (Austin, Texas) in the seventh and the transfer from Nebraska-Kearney made short work of the hosts in the stanza as he retired the Rattlers in order.
 
StMU had two runners on the bases in the eighth with two outs, but a three-pitch strikeout put a stop to any hopes of getting a run home as Sandoz worked out of the jam.
 
The McCallum H.S. product needed only 11 pitches to work through the final inning to secure his first save of the season. Sandoz got Fennel swinging on three pitches before a five-pitch grounder to Servin from J Camacho turned into the second out.
 
Derek Mueller had little hope to ignite a two-out rally as Sandoz put a bow on his performance with a three-pitch strikeout to put the Javelinas above .500 for the first time on the year following the 6-3 final score.
 
Servin finished the second contest with three hits in four at bats, his second game of the year recording at least three hits.
 
Spinn and Loredo both ended up with a pair of hits to round out the offensive attack.
 
Boyett struck out four in his six innings of work to take home his first win in the Blue and Gold, while Sandoz struck out five in three innings on the mound for the save.
 
The Javelinas will return to Kingsville, Texas, next week with their first four-game series of 2019 at Nolan Ryan Field when they host Missouri-St. Louis starting on Friday, February 22, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
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