KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program turned up for batting practice on Sunday in the series finale against No. 24 Angelo State at Nolan Ryan Field and came away with 17 hits as a team en route to a 14-5 win to close the nine-game home stand.

"We told our guys today that their toughness was going to be challenged," said head coach Jason Gonzales, "and that they had an opportunity to go out today and show people they really are tough.

"They responded to the challenge, they overcame adversity, and I was proud of the way they competed today."

The Javelinas (11-7) got an early jump on the Rams' (18-5) starting pitcher as Tyler Lesley failed to record an out with the first five hitters reaching safely in the bottom of the first. Junior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) started the rally with a leadoff double down the right field line and was one-upped by classmate Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) who ripped a triple into the same corner of the field for a 1-0 lead through the first two hitters.

It was Spinn's second triple in as many contests and he was one slip-up short of posting three in the series as he ended on second in game one after leading off the bottom of the first with a liner into the right center gap. The transfer from Temple College rounded second, ended up slipping on the dirt and had to scramble back to the bag to take a leadoff double instead.

Spinn ended up scoring after redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) poked a bounding-ball single through the right side. A liner dropped into left center from redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) provided the third run of the opening frame as sophomore Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) crossed home for a 3-0 lead and prompted a pitching change from ASU head coach Kevin Brooks.

A final run for the Hogs came home in the at bat after a passed ball from reliever Shannon Broussard was stopped by Nick Seginowich's catcher's mask, and the ruling stood as detached player equipment interfering with a live ball for a one-base award with the bags juiced for a 4-0 TAMUK lead going into the second inning.

Angelo State got the first run back after Nic Novak scored on a wild pitch in the top half of the third before Riley Peterson pushed a double down the left field line for two more runs to trim the lead to 4-3 going into the second.

The lead was erased entirely in the top of the fourth when Michael Urquidi dropped a single into center to plate Parker Bramlett for an evened count at 4-4 going into the bottom half of the stanza.

TAMUK regained the lead for good in the following at bat after Spinn's RBI groundout to Novak with the bases loaded brought redshirt junior Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) home. A two-run double to right from Servin put the lead at 7-4 going into the fifth, while an RBI single up the middle from De Leon in the sixth double the hosts' run total over the Rams at 8-4 going into the seventh.

Meanwhile, redshirt junior Alex Canul (Edinburg, Texas) got the start and went three innings on the mound with four strikeouts before getting the hook for senior Eric Sandoz (Austin, Texas) in the fourth. Sandoz worked through six innings and allowed only two runs while striking out four to secure his third win of the year.

One of the runs he allowed came in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to left from Andrew Morales, but the transfer from Nebraksa-Kearney worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eight before throwing up a final zero in the ninth to take the decision.

TAMUK padded the lead in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of a two-run blast to right from redshirt sophomore Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) and a sacrifice fly to left from redshirt freshman Rey Chapa (Spring, Texas) for an 11-5 line score.

The final three runs came across on a sacrifice fly to right from Arnold in the bottom of the eight, followed by an RBI single from redshirt freshman Matthew Stary (Houston, Texas) and a bounding-ball RBI single up the gut from Ullman to cement the score at 14-5.

Ullman snapped out of his early-season slump and came away with four hits in five at bats to lead the Hogs, coupled with two stolen bases, one RBI and one run scored.

In total, all nine Javelina starters posted a hit in the win, Loredo adding three of his own while De Leon and Hernandez both posted two.

The Hogs will return to action on Wednesday, March 13, in Victoria, Texas, for a single-game matchup against Houston-Victoria at Riverside Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.

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-