FORT WORTH, Texas - The [6/5] Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program was locked in a bitter-cold struggle with Newman on Thursday at Corbitt Field for the first day of the 4-Him Classic and came away with a hard-fought 6-5 decision to secure the first win of 2019.

"It was a good tough team win," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "We had outstanding relief pitching from [Noel] Solis and [Jacob] Vasquez along with some timely hitting. We're on to the next one."

The Javelinas (1-3) took an early lead over the Jets (0-2) courtesy of a two-run shot from redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) in the bottom of the first. Loredo skied a pitch from Zack Erdman over the right field wall with junior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) on the basepaths.

NU tacked on the first run in the top of the second after Turner Lace dropped a double into left center to plate Matt Reeves, but the Hogs were quick to get the run back in the bottom half of the frame as Spinn roped one into right to bring redshirt sophomore Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) home for a 3-1 lead favoring the hosts.

The Jets evened the count at three apiece after Lace drew a leadoff walk to start the top of the fourth and made his way home on a passed ball in the following at bat. NU ended up chasing Javelina starter sophomore Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) two batters later as Gonzales opted for junior Noel Solis (Brownsville, Texas) for the remainder of the frame.

The third run came home after the bases were loaded on a TAMUK miscue four batters later, with Daniel Blake knotting the contest on a single to left to bring Paul Rupnik home.

Junior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) put the Hogs back ahead in the bottom of the sixth as he led the stanza off with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from redshirt senior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas), stole third and came home on an off-target throw from the catcher for a 4-3 lead.

Another mistake from NU plated the fifth run for TAMUK after sophomore Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. The two-run lead was short-lived as a two-run double to right center from Dalton Dinke in the top of the eight set the stage for the final six outs of the contest.

Redshirt junior Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the eighth to become the go-ahead run, and served his role well after a single from Spinn and a walk from Loredo loaded the bases leading up to a sacrifice fly from Servin to give the Hogs a one-run lead.

Solis got the hook for redshirt freshman Jacob Vasquez (Victoria, Texas) with one out in the ninth and secured the first win of the year for TAMUK at 6-5 after retiring the final two batters.

Spinn finished the day with three hits, all singles, to go with one RBI and two stolen bases. Gonzalez was the other Hog to finish with multiple hits as he added two to his day.

Solis took his first win with five innings of work, striking out four in the process, while Vasquez secured the save with a pair of outs in the ninth.

The Javelinas will take on Oklahoma Christian for the first game of the twofer on tap on Friday, February 9, with first pitch scheduled for 9 a.m. CT at Railroaders Stadium in Cleburne, Texas.

Stay up-to-date with everything Javelina baseball at JavelinaAthletics.com, follow the program on Twitter @JavelinaBSB and see recent news on Facebook at /JavelinaBSB

-JAVELINAS-