KINGSVILLE, Texas - A triple ripped into deep right-center turned out to be the winning combination for the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program on Friday at Nolan Ryan Field, as senior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) tallied two-extra base hits and had a hand in all three runs scored for the season-opening win over Oklahoma Christian at 3-1.

"It was a 3-1 count," said De Leon on his go-ahead RBI triple in the fifth, "so I knew a strike was coming. I looked fastball all the way and got a triple."

"Austin has an uncanny ability to see a lot of pitches and draw some walks," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "Some of the things we've talked to him about is getting more aggressive at the plate because he can swing the bat, and to see that at the top of the order is about as good as it gets."

De Leon finished with a game-high three hits for the Javelinas (1-0, 1-0 LSC), including both extra-base hits as he led off the bottom half of the first with a double down the left-field line on the second pitch. He ended up crossing the plate during the next at-bat after an errant throw off a grounder from redshirt sophomore Matthew Stary (Houston, Texas) allowed him to score from second.

The Eagles (0-1, 0-1 LSC) relied on returning All-South Central Region pitcher Gabe Rodery to keep the game close as he kept TAMUK off the scoreboard for the next three innings. The bottom of the fifth became the pivotal moment as senior transfer Aldo Buendia (Laredo, Texas) reached on a dropped popup by OC shortstop Austin McCain and was plated by De Leon's triple during the following at-bat.

De Leon ended up crossing home later in the frame after junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) skied a towering fly ball down the left-field line and it was caught deep enough to go into the books as a sacrifice fly. De Leon finished with one RBI and two runs as a result of his time at the plate and matched his season-high of three hits set back on March 29, 2019, in a 15-2 win over Cameron.

The Javelina pitching staff, meanwhile, relied on right-handed newcomer John Mike Rodriguez (Corpus Christi, Texas) on the hill to start and the transfer from Cisco College responded with one run and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings pitched for the no-decision. His lone run allowed came in the top of the fourth after two Eagles reached on back-to-back singles to open the stanza and the first eventually scored after two consecutive groundouts.

Rodriguez gave way to sophomore Matthew Sesler (Harlingen, Texas) after one out in the top of the fifth and the lefty from Harlingen High School closed the books on the fifth with back-to-back punchouts. He worked through the next two innings and had help from a line-drive double-play in the sixth before adding two more strikeouts in the seventh.

Sesler was credited with his first win of the season, the second of his career for the Hogs.

Redshirt junior Matthew Oleson (Driftwood, Texas) took over the reins on the mound after a leadoff bunt single in the top of the eighth and added two strikeouts of his own in the frame. Classmate Chase Glover (Fort Worth, Texas) was tabbed in the ninth to close the door on OC and ended up with his first save in the Blue and Gold with the final batter down on strikes.

"They were able to attack the strike zone," added Gonzales, referring to the effort out of the bullpen, "and that's one of the things we were hoping they would do. We were concerned if they could come in and fill up the strike zone, and they did.

"They executed some big pitches just by staying ahead in the count, and from there, our defense made a couple of big plays on some hard hits. On the first night for the first win, we'll take it."

Stary and freshmen Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas) were the other two Javelinas to record a hit in the contest, the latter getting his first collegiate hit in the bottom of the eighth on a 0-1 count with two outs.

Game two of the 2020 opening series is slated for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday, February 1, at Nolan Ryan Field.

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