KINGSVILLE, Texas – In control of their own destiny as they seek the program's first ever regular season title in the Lone Star Conference, the No. 3 Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team will travel to Odessa, Texas for three games against the UT Permian Basin Falcons beginning with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday night at the UTPB Softball Field.
The Javelinas enter the final weekend of the LSC regular season 38-8 overall and 21-6 in the LSC. Their sweep of MSU Texas in their final home series of the season enabled them to keep pace with both A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M, as each team possesses a league record identical to TAMUK's. With a 5-1 mark against those two squads, however, the tiebreaker belongs to the Blue and Gold, meaning that if all three teams finish tied, the Javs would earn the No. 1 seed and home field advantage in the LSC Tournament. WT will be on the road against No. 19 Tarleton on Friday and Saturday, while Commerce has a home series against fourth-place Cameron.
TAMUK has an opportunity to finish alone atop the conference standings for the first time ever. In 1997, when the LSC consisted of two divisions, the Javelinas finished tied with Abilene Christian for first place in the South Division, but this would be the first time the program had the regular season title all to itself.
One of the main reasons the Javs have maintained their spot in the race to top the of LSC has been the pitching of junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas). In her last 12 appearances, she's thrown 55 1/3 innings and pitched to an ERA of 1.01. She's 7-1 during that stretch, with her only loss coming in relief, and she's also collected two saves. For the season, Smith now owns a 1.75 ERA, the lowest in the conference.
The most torrid hitting pace for the Javelinas of late has been maintained by sophomore Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas). Kelly is one of three Javelinas hitting over .400 since the start of March, but she's been even more locked in over her team's last 15 games. Over that period, she's logged seven multi-hit games and is batting .455. She's also posted a .564 on-base percentage, tops on the squad.
For UTPB, their final series of the year offers only an opportunity to play spoiler. At 10-36 overall and 3-24 in the LSC, it has been a difficult year for fifth-year coach Tiala Tagaloa, who, in 2018, had seen her team improve by six victories from 10 the year before up to 16. This season, however, they've slid back to 10 enter the season's final weekend.
The good news for Tagaloa is three of her top performers this season have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining, including infielder Vanessa Alonzo. She's UTPB's only .300 hitter at .302 and also leads the roster with 20 RBIs. Choco Munoz has the best OPS on the squad at .825 with a team-high four homers. Both players will be juniors in 2020.
On the mound, no one has seen more action than freshman Abrie Castillo, who owns the team's best ERA at 4.62. Despite a record of 1-10, her season includes an outing against Tarleton in which she allowed only one run over seven innings. She also went the distance on March 23rd, allowing only three runs in a near upset of Angelo State.
Links to live stats for every game and a recap following the final out will both be available via Javelinaathletics.com. To stay up-to-date with Javelina softball all year long, follow @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
