VICTORIA, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program had a déjà vu moment against Houston-Victoria on Wednesday at Riverside Stadium, as redshirt freshman Matthew Stary (Houston, Texas) provided the late-game fireworks with a pinch-hit, eighth-inning grand slam to secure a 16-6 win in the midweek matchup.

"It was a good start to the six-game road trip," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "The pitchers did a good job of not giving up a big inning and letting the hitters settle in and do what they do best."

The Javelinas (12-7) threw up nine runs in the top of the eighth against the Jaguars (12-9) to put the game out of reach. Much like last year's meeting between the teams at the same site, Stary's slam punctuated a nine-run eighth for the Hogs as junior Dax McCleary (Sweeny, Texas) was the Blue and Gold slugger who posted a pinch-hit grand slam in the 2018 contest to spearhead the decision.

UHV opened the scoring in the bottom of the first after Joshua Fonseca cleared the left field wall on the 1-2 pitch with a runner at first for a 2-0 lead going into the second.

TAMUK quickly erased the deficit in the top half of the inning as redshirt-senior Tim Gleinser (Victoria, Texas) dropped a single into left to bring Ullman in for the first run. Sophomore Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) tacked on two more with a single to center that brought Gleinser and junior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) home to put the Javelinas ahead, while a balk with junior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) standing on third provided the latest run for a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the second.

The Jaguars got a run back in the bottom half of the third after Fonseca reached on a two-out double in the right-center gap and scored on a single into center from Derek Smith.

The Blue and Gold brought three more across in the top of the sixth to set the cushion at 7-3, with a single from Spinn that brought De Leon, who reached on an error with two outs, across home plate. Spinn ended up scoring on another error as Servin skied a fly ball to center and the ball was misplayed, while redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) pasted a pitch into left center to cap Servin.

UHV added two in the bottom half of the frame after Smith skied the 1-0 pitch to left with the bases empty, while Caleb Zoda ended up crossing on a wild pitch later in the at bat. The final run for the hosts came courtesy of a single to left from John Llanes as Fonseca strolled across the plate yet again to set the score at 7-6 favoring the visitors going into the eighth.

The first five TAMUK batters reached via walk to open what became the final inning as Loredo drew the first free pass with the bases load on four pitches for the first run, plating De Leon, while senior Donovan Lewis (Alvin, Texas) also drew a four-pitch walk in the following at bat for a 9-6 lead.

A single poured into right from freshman Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas) brought in the next run, before a sacrifice fly to center from redshirt sophomore Hayden Fails (Sweeny, Texas) set the stage for Stary's slam.

Redshirt junior Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) reloaded the bases with a diving liner into left, while Stary, pinch hitting for redshirt freshman Rey Chapa (Spring, Texas), drilled the 2-1 pitch out to left to open the floodgates.

Loredo brought the final run home with a single to center, while the Jaguars went down in order in the bottom of the eighth to bring the game to a close.

Spinn led all Javelinas with three hits in the game, his fourth game of 2019 with at least three hits, alongside three runs, one RBI and a walk.

Servin, Loredo and redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) all added two, with Servin and Loredo each tallying three RBI in the process.

Junior Tyler Crouch (Bulverde, Texas) took the win as he came in relief for sophomore Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) in the fourth and threw three inning while giving up only two runs.

The Hogs will continue their road trip later this week with a four-game regional series against Eastern New Mexico starting on Friday, March 15. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT in Portales, N.M., at Greyhound Baseball Field.

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

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