KINGSVILLE, Texas - The 2020 opening day series for the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program is just around the corner as the Javelinas enter their 12th year under the direction of head coach Jason Gonzales, with first pitch against Oklahoma Christian set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday, January 31, at Nolan Ryan Field in the new-look Lone Star Conference slate.

The Hogs are coming off their 10th straight appearance in the LSC Championship in 2019 where they finished 30-20 at the end of the season with a 13-11 mark in league play. A hard-fought 2-0 loss to No. 14/8 West Texas A&M ensued in the semifinal round of the tournament where the Buffs held on in the pitcher's duel that brought TAMUK's season to an end.

Senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) returns to the lineup as one of three named First Team All-LSC after the 2019 schedule, joined by junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) and Zach Boyett. Spinn was also named Second Team All-South Central Region by the D2CCA after he started 46 games and finished fifth in the conference in batting average at .378 with 49 runs on 65 hits, adding a .541 slugging percentage and a .481 on-base mark.

Spinn was recently named Preseason First Team All-South Central Region by the NCBWA as the Javelinas were slotted seventh in the preseason regional poll. TAMUK was also picked to finished fourth in the LSC preseason poll with 14 teams now competing in a 50-game schedule following the merger of the Heartland Conference teams.

Servin, meanwhile, started all 50 games for the Hogs and came away with a .367 average on a team-high 69 hits along with 43 RBI and 46 runs.

The first opponent awaiting Gonzales' squad is former Heartland program Oklahoma Christian, entering its eighth season under the direction of Lonny Cobble. The two squads met once in 2019 at the 4-Him Classic in Cleburne, Texas, on February 8 where the Hogs took the matchup 10-5 for Preston Plovanich's first win of the year.

TAMUK jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning after capitalizing on an OC miscue and rode the momentum to the win. Plovanich finished with six punchouts in five innings of work before giving way to redshirt senior Alex Canul (Edinburg, Texas) who took his first save with four innings on the bump and sat down one batter on strikes. Manny Loredo led the Hogs with two hits in four at-bats to go with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to keep a four-run cushion, while Servin added two hits of his own to go with two runs scored and one RBI.

The Javelinas bring back seven student-athletes who saw extended time in the lineup for Gonzales in 2019. Joining Spinn and Servin will be the senior trio of Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas), Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) and Cameron Melcher (Kerrville, Texas), alongside redshirt junior Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas) and sophomore Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas).

For the pitching rotation, junior Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas) returns as the lone starter from the 2019 squad where he finished with a 2-2 record and compiled a 5.44 ERA and 43 strikeouts across 41.1 innings pitched. The bullpen will feature Canul alongside senior Tyler Crouch (Bulverde, Texas) and the sophomore duo of Matthew Sesler (Harlingen, Texas) and Jacob Vasquez (Victoria, Texas) for a combined 47 appearances in 2019.

Game one of the series against the Eagles is set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday, January 31, at Nolan Ryan Field. Game two will take place on Saturday, February 1, at 2 p.m. CT, while game three is slated for Sunday, February 2, at 1 p.m. CT.

Watch your Javelinas live on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy. 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-