KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio) threw the sixth no-hitter in program history to ice a doubleheader sweep by the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team, who topped the St. Edward's Hilltoppers 6-4 and 8-0 in their 2019 home opener on Tuesday night at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas.
Smith's no-no is the first by a Javelina since Jennifer DeMay blanked Texas Woman's University on March 11th, 2005. Her performance also upped TAMUK's record to 7-0, matching the best start in program history, which the team accomplished in 2009.
"I thought, outside of one inning, we played really well tonight," said coach Craig Nicholson. "We made the first one interesting, but found a way to finish it off. We pitched very well again tonight. I liked some of the approaches at the plate and the at-bats tonight. If we can be a little bit better offensively, we're going to put ourselves in a pretty good spot."
Game One
The Javelinas used five hits in six at-bats in the second inning to grab the game's first lead. A one-out double by freshman Makenzie Mays (Conroe, Texas) and a single by senior Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.) brought freshman Amber Reyes (Edinburg, Texas) to the dish. TAMUK's right fielder lined an RBI single through right side to get the home team on the board and sophomore Jory Cervantes and freshman Veronica Chavez (Tempe, Ariz.) followed in kind to make the score 3-0.
In the circle, freshman Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) was completely neutralizing SEU's offense. She retired the first 15 batters she faced, striking out five along the way. Senior Roxy Chapa (McAllen, Texas) added to Castillo's cushion in the fifth, blasting her team's first home run of the season. Two more Javelina runs crossed the plate in the sixth, as Cervantes and Chavez each picked up their second RBIs of the night.
The Hilltoppers finally managed to show some life on offense with two outs in the seventh. Following a double and an error, they strung together four consecutive RBI singles that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Castillo induced a grounder to second for the game's final out, improving her record this season to 4-0.
Game Two
In the nightcap, Smith was in command from the start. She retired the first nine batters before issuing a lead-off walk in the fourth. That lone baserunner was erased on a double play two hitters later and Smith wound up facing the minimum 15 batters. She accomplished the no-hitter without a single strikeout and SEU managed to hit only two balls out of the infield.
"The big thing with Breanna," said Nicholson. "is when she's getting strike one and filling up the strike zone, she's going to be effective. She threw strikes, she got ahead in the count. When she does that, she's really good."
The Javelina offense was also on point in the second game, once again starting the scoring in the second frame. An error, a single and a sacrifice put runners on second and third and a wild pitch allowed Chapa to dent home plate. Schoonard-Saborio then laced a triple into right-center to up her team's advantage to two.
Starting in the third, the Javs took advantage of the opportunity to show off their power stroke and speed, starting in the third with Chapa's second round-tripper of the evening, another two-run shot.
In the fourth, after freshman Jackie De Los Santos (Kingsville, Texas) drew a walk, another first-year Javelina, Yvonne Castillo (Leander, Texas), pinch-ran, stole second, took third on a single and scored when sophomore Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) bunted for a hit. During the next at-bat, Kelly took off for second and, after a throw to the base, Reyes swiped home for a 6-0 lead. Chavez followed by putting a cap on the night, drilling a two-run homer to close out the scoring.
On Friday, the Javelinas will head to San Antonio for two days at the St. Mary's College Softball Classic. TAMUK will play four games in two days beginning with a date against the Drury Panthers on Friday morning at 10 a.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.
