CANYON, Texas - The No. 22 Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program faced a potent pitching combination on Saturday at Wilder Park as West Texas A&M took both halves of the twinbill in Lone Star Conference action.

The Javelinas (9-4, 9-4 LSC) dropped game one to the Buffs (11-2, 11-2 LSC) at 11-0 and ended up on the wrong side of the pitcher's duel in game two at 1-0.

GAME ONE

The Hogs ran into Zach Dixon in the first half of the doubleheader as the senior took the complete-game win by striking out 10 and allowing only one hit for the decision. The Javelinas had four base runners total in the game as senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) drew a two-out walk in the first for the first scoring opportunity.

Freshman Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas) added a one-out walk in the third but got stranded on the base paths in the at-bat, while redshirt sophomore Rey Chapa (The Woodlands, Texas) drew a pinch-hit walk in the sixth to lead off the inning.

Junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) was responsible for the lone hit as he led off the seventh with a liner into left on the second pitch of the at-bat.

The Buffs, meanwhile, chased junior hurler John Mike Rodriguez (Corpus Christi, Texas) with six runs in the second. An RBI single from Caleb Flores started the rally while a two-run home run to right center from Clay Koelzer capped it for a 6-0 lead heading into the third.

WT tacked on five more in the fourth, getting three on RBI singles and the fourth on the wild pitch to set the line score at 11-0 going into the fifth.

GAME TWO

The squads were locked in a pitcher's duel for the second half of the twinbill, with redshirt junior Amado Almanzar (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) locking down the mound for the Hogs despite taking the complete-game loss. He struck out eight over the course of six innings and issued only two walks in the contest.

Alamanzar's lone blemish came in the bottom of the fifth when Justin Martinez lifted a solo shot out to left to break the scoreless tie.

WT relied on Chandler Dean on the hill for the game and he turned in six scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the win. He was given the hook for Carter Brown in the seventh, who summarily struck out the side to pick up his second save.

Sophomore Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas) had both hits for the Javelinas as he poked a double to right field to lead off the second inning and added a ground-rule double to left center in the sixth with two outs.

TAMUK has one more opportunity to salvage a win in the series as game four is set for 1 p.m. CT at Wilder Park on Sunday, February 23.

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