ODESSA, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program bookended the contest against UT Permian Basin with 10 runs on Friday at Roden Field to cruise to a series-opening win over UT Permian Basin in Lone Star Conference play.

"Great start by Preston today," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "He did what a veteran should do, he filled up the strike zone often and allowed his hitters to be very aggressive and continue to take the fight to their opponent."

The Javelinas (24-13, 8-5 LSC) were the recipients of two home runs in the matchup against the Falcons (12-21, 3-6 LSC), as junior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) skied a solo shot in the fifth, his first of the year, while redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez (Havana, Cuba) one-upped his teammate with a three-run blast in the seventh to put TAMUK over the top.

The Hogs pushed three runs across in the opening frame after redshirt senior Manny Loredo (McAllen, Texas) started the rally with a sacrifice flight to right to plate junior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas).

Hernandez brought the next run home on a double in the right center gap, scoring Spinn, while freshman Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas) lined the 0-2 pitch from Ivan Thomas into the left center gap for two runs and a 4-0 Javelina lead.

Spinn needed only two pitches in the top of the fifth to paste his first home run of 2019 over the right field wall, while junior Cameron Melcher (Kerrville, Texas) ignited a six-run seventh with a two-run, bounding-ball single into right for a 7-0 advantage.

Hernandez followed up with a three-run jack over the right center wall on the first pitch he saw to put the Hogs into double digits. Redshirt senior Alex Gonzalez (Corpus Christi, Texas) added the cherry on top with an RBI double down the left field line to set TAMUK's run total at 11.

Meanwhile, senior Preston Plovanich (Santa Fe, Texas) stymied the Falcon lineup and retired 10 batters in a row starting with the third out of the opening stanza to keep UTPB off the board. The hosts didn't get a runner into scoring position until the seventh, but by then it was too late as Plovanich recorded his eighth strikeout of the game to secure his sixth win of the season.

Hernandez finished the game with a pair of hits, both extra bases, along with four RBI. Bonuz added two hits of his own alongside a pair of RBI, while Melcher matched him in the RBI count.

The two squads will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Roden Field starting at 1 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-