KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) hurled her second no-hitter of the season and struck out 10, propelling the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team to a 5-0 victory over the MSU Texas Mustangs on Friday afternoon in Lone Star Conference action at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas.
Smith's clean sheet is the third seven-inning no-hitter in Javelina history and the first since Jennifer DeMay in 2005. She's also the first TAMUK pitcher to collect multiple no-hitters in the same season and just the second to do it in a career.
This victory not only completed a sweep of the Mustangs, but also put the Blue and Gold back in first place in the Lone Star Conference. Their 21-6 LSC record is identical to that of A&M-Commerce, but the Javs own the head-to-head tiebreaker, having swept the Lions in March. Overall, TAMUK is 36-8 while MSU Texas is 19-19 and 10-17 in conference.
"We did a better job at the plate today," said coach Craig Nicholson. "We had some better at-bats off their pitcher. It was a good all-around game. Obviously, Breanna pitched well. We made couple good plays behind her."
Smith was absolutely untouchable as she navigated the Mustang lineup. She retired the first 20 batters before a walk to the game's second-to-last hitter robbed her of a chance for a perfect game. Only three batters got the ball out of the infield against the junior from San Antonio and she struck out at least one hitter in every frame except for the seventh. She also needed just 87 pitches to finish the job.
Obviously, very little run support was needed for the Javelinas, but they broke the game open in the third with a four-run outburst. The first six batters reached base in the inning, starting with a single courtesy of freshman Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas). A hit-batter and a single loaded the bases and brought up senior Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.). TAMUK's second baseman became the second batter in the frame to be plunked, forcing in the tie-breaking run. The big hit was then provided by sophomore Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas), who roped a double down the left field line, clearing the bases for a 4-0 lead.
The game's final run scored in the fifth, thanks to singles by freshmen Veronica Chavez (Tempe, Ariz.), Makenzie Mays (Conroe, Texas) and Cervantes. Smith took care of the rest.
The last week of the regular season begins on Tuesday for the Javelinas, who will visit St. Mary's for a doubleheader, which will begin at 5 p.m. Javelina fans can keep with Blue and Gold softball by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
