KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program completed their second series sweep of 2020 on Sunday at Nolan Ryan Field as they endured a late push from Lubbock Christian en route to an 8-7 decision to close out the third week of play in the Lone Star Conference.

"We played extremely hard," said head coach Jason Gonzales, "and I told them I was proud of them. We got behind, then we took the lead, they took the lead, and we just kept fighting.

"I told them after the game the mark of a good team is when you don't play well but you still find a way to win, and I didn't think we played particularly well today. We made some mistakes but that's college baseball and for these kids its tough to play four games in three days, its physically tough on both teams. So the way they battled, I couldn't be more proud of them."

The Javelinas (9-1, 9-1 LSC) took over the lead in the seventh and forced the Chaps (3-7, 3-7 LSC) to strand five base runners in the final two innings to take the win.

LCU threw the first punch of the day in the top of the third after Larry Leitha doubled down the left-field line to score A.J. Perez and George Mendazona for a 2-0 lead. The deficit was quickly erased in the home half of the frame as the Hogs got the first three batters aboard on consecutive singles before a bases-loaded walk issued to redshirt senior Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) brought the first run home.

After senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) was plunked to tie the game at two apiece, junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) had his fly ball caught at the warning track to plate senior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) to give the hosts the lead. TAMUK tacked on two more in the frame, both on bases-loaded walks to redshirt sophomore Matthew Stary (Houston, Texas) and classmate Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas), to take a 5-2 cushion into the fourth.

Junior transfer Kolby Lunsford (Helotes, Texas), meanwhile, was tasked with keeping the LCU bats quiet as he worked through 4.1 innings on the mound and struck out a pair before handing the keys over to sophomore Bryce Galvan (Blessing, Texas) in the fifth. The Chaps chased Lunsford away after Mendazona bounced a one-out single through the right half of the diamond before Perez and Leitha drew consecutive walks.

LCU ended up knotting the contest at five in the frame once Luis Navarro skied a sacrifice fly out to right, while a failed pickoff attempt on Leitha at first skipped away and granted Perez access to the plate. The tying run ended up at home on a passed ball during Skylar Nelson's at-bat to set the line score at 5-5 heading into the sixth.

The visitors took the lead in the top half of the following frame when Peyton Maddox dropped a liner into left-center to cap Gavy Perez-Torres with one out. Perez-Torres ended up at second on a leadoff double to the right-center gap before his sprinted home on Maddox's base hit.

The scored held firm at 6-5 until the bottom of the seventh when TAMUK had the heart of the lineup at the plate. Ullman started the rally after getting plunked on the third pitch he saw, swiped second, and scored on a single to left-center from Spinn.

Servin followed up with a double driven to right-center after an LCU pitching change, giving the Hogs the lead for good, and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Stary for a much-needed two-run lead at 8-6 heading into the eighth.

The Chaps had a chance to chip away at the lead in the eighth with runners at first and second with one out, but sophomore Matthew Sesler (Harlingen, Texas), in for his third appearance of the series, squelched the rally with a fly ball to right and a groundball to second to end the at-bat.

Junior Chase Glover (Fort Worth, Texas) was tabbed in the ninth with his third appearance of the weekend and ran into early trouble after Grant Griffin led the inning off with a double down the left-field line before John Figueroa drew a pinch-hit walk.

Perez-Torres was tasked with advancing the runners for the Chaps by dropping down the bunt, but Glover fielded it cleanly and took the throw over to third base to get the lead runner for the first out in a pivotal play. LCU tacked on one more run with a double from Tate Ellison, also pinch-hitting, that brought out redshirt junior Matthew Oleson (Driftwood, Texas) to seal the victory.

Oleson got Maddox to fly out to center field before handing an intentional walk to Mendazona and needed Spinn to lay out in centerfield one again for the final out as Perez lifted the second pitch into the gap to bring the game to an end. It was the first save of the season for Oleson as he also took the win in game two of the series against LCU.

Junior Tyler Henson (Abilene, Texas) took his first win in the Blue and Gold as he worked out of a jam in the top of the seventh with a strikeout and throw out double play to end the inning with Bonuz retiring Perez-Torres who was trying to steal second.

De Leon and Bonuz both finished the game with one hit and two walks to lead the batting order. Meanwhile, Stary, Servin, and Spinn all recorded multiple RBI at two and also added one hit to their totals.

The Javelinas will now turn their attention to the upcoming road trip as they visit Canyon, Texas, to face No. 15/13 West Texas A&M for a four-game set starting on Friday, February 21 at Wilder Park.

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-