KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the first time since 1997, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team will play host to the Lone Star Conference Tournament, which will take place at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas on Friday and Saturday.
The No. 3 Javelinas are less than a week removed from completing a regular season that saw them post a 41-8 record, go 24-6 in the LSC and capture their first conference championship in the regular season. They also enter the postseason on an eight-game win streak, their fourth win streak of at least five games in 2019. Those accomplishments in the regular season netted the Javelinas the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the tournament, as they search for their first LSC Tournament title since 2002.
"I think we had to show ourselves what we were capable of," said coach Craig Nicholson. "Now that we've seen ourselves go through the year and win the Lone Star Conference and go 41-8, I think this is a group that believes in what they're capable of doing. They've also done a good job of staying grounded."
Five other teams will be making the journey to Kingsville for the event, which will begin with four games on Friday. The first contest will begin at 11 a.m. when third-seeded West Texas A&M takes on sixth-seeded Angelo State. At 1:30 p.m., No. 4 Tarleton and No. 5 Cameron will battle for the last semi-final spot. The two teams waiting on those results will be the Javelinas and second-seeded A&M-Commerce. The Lions will play the winner of WT-ASU at 4 p.m. before the first day closes out with TAMUK against either the TexAnns or the Aggies at 6:30 p.m.
The tournament final will pit the two semifinal winners against each other at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Javelinas' pitching staff will be entering the postseason throwing as well as they have all year. During the team's eight-game win streak, no opponent has scored more than two runs in a game and the Javs have tossed three shutouts.
Junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) and freshman Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) have formed the most effective pitching tandem in the LSC. They both have ERAs under 2.00, with Smith's 1.65 mark the best in the conference. She's not allowed an earned run in eight of her last 13 outings.
"She's pitching with an extreme amount of confidence right now," said Nicholson. "For any athlete, when you're confident in what you're doing, chances are your performance reflects that. She had some struggles early, but she kept grinding and has worked through that. Right now, she's doing an excellent job for us."
Castillo's 22 victories are the second-most in the LSC and tied for ninth in the nation. In her last 29 innings at home, she's given up only one earned run.
At the dish, the Blue and Gold posted a .323 average in the regular season, second-best in the LSC and tied for 32nd in Division II. Sophomore Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas) continues to headline TAMUK's lineup. Through 49 games, she owns a .721 slugging percentage and a .409 average. Those marks would place her first and fourth, respectively, on the program's single-season leaderboard. With 51 RBIs, Leibas is also five away from breaking TAMUK's single-season RBI record.
The Javelinas will enter the conference tournament with seven players batting over .300. That group includes all three outfielders, freshmen Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) and Amber Reyes (Edinburg, Texas) and sophomore Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas). Cervantes is coming off her best series of the season, a 6-for-9 performance against UTPB. Kelly also had a pair of multi-hit games during her team's time and Odessa and she's combined with Reyes to give the Javs excellent defense in both corner outfield spots. Kelly and Reyes have each made only a single error in 2019.
Links to live coverage of every Javelina game at Hubert Field during the LSC Tournament can be found at Javelinaathletics.com. At the conclusion of each contest, a recap will also be posted on Javelinaathletics.com. To keep up with everything related to Javelina softball during the postseason, fans can stay up-to-date with Javelina softball throughout the season by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
