KINGSVILLE, Texas – As the final week of the regular season gets underway, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team finds itself back in first place in the Lone Star Conference, atop the South Central regional rankings and ranked No. 3 in the nation. Seven games remain on the schedule as the Javelinas to try and maintain their current standing and the first four are part of a pair of non-conference doubleheaders, first with the St. Mary's Rattlers, then with the St. Edward's Hilltoppers.
The Javelinas will visit St. Mary's on Tuesday for a twin bill beginning at 5 p.m. at the St. Mary's Softball Stadium in San Antonio. St. Edward's will welcome in TAMUK on Wednesday for two games beginning at 1 p.m. at Diane Daniels Field in Austin.
The Javelinas finished up their home schedule in spectacular fashion, sweeping the Midwestern State Mustangs to polish off an 18-3 regular season mark at Hubert Field. Their 21-6 record in conference play, to go with 35 wins and eight losses overall, matches that of A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M, but TAMUK's head-to-head record of 5-1 against those opponents gives them the edge.
Pitching was the main storyline for the Blue and Gold as they disposed of MSU and that has been the case for most of the season. Junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) pushed her record to 13-3 with two victories, including a no-hitter in the series finale, her second hitless outing of the season. She also lowered her ERA to 1.81, the best in the LSC. The one win against the Mustangs that was not claimed by Smith went to freshman Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas), who fired her sixth shutout of the season to claim win No. 20, making her the first 20-game winner for the Javs in a decade.
The Javelina offense has continued to revolve around sophomore Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas), Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas). Kelly added two stolen bases to her 2019 total against MSU, setting a new single-season program stolen base record with 33. Leibas' .394 average puts her sixth in the LSC and her nine homers and 44 RBIs are both team-highs. Schoonard-Saborio has a seven-game hit streak and has seen her average rise from .238 at the beginning of March up to .368. She has eight multi-hit games and has scored 27 runs during that stretch
Both of these opponents will be seeing the Javelinas for the second time in 2019, each team visiting Kingsville for twin bills earlier in the season. St. Mary's managed a split while the Javs swept the Hilltoppers. The Rattlers' victory was thanks in large part to the pitching of Alex McLennan, who threw 10 innings and allowed only two earned runs. McLennan has combined with junior Staci Johns to give SMU a solid pitching staff that sports a 2.52 ERA and their opponent's batting average of .224 is tied for the best in the Heartland Conference.
St. Mary's is currently eighth in the South Central Region and just a single game behind Oklahoma Christian for first place in the Heartland at 17-10 in conference and 28-20 overall. St. Edward's is in a much different place. Their 10-17 league record and 14-23 overall mark place them sixth out of seven teams.
They visited Kingsville in early February and were swept in a doubleheader that included Smith's first no-hitter of the current campaign. They've crafted a respectable .266 average, fourth in the HC, led by Kayla Appleby's .356, seventh in the league.
The biggest issue for the Hilltoppers has been finding consistency in the circle. Six different pitchers have thrown at least 10 innings and recorded at least one decision, but Julisa Ortega and Reagan Carter have been the workhorses. Ortega's 4.06 ERA and five wins are tops on the club.
Links to live coverage of every game will be available on Javelinaathletics.com and a recap will be up shortly after the final out. To stay up-to-date with Javelina softball all season long, follow @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
