DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Sophomore Makenzie Mays (Conroe, Texas) collected two hits, three RBIs and scored a run and seniors Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) and Victoria Carrion (Robstown, Texas) combined to permit only four hits as the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team rolled to an 8-2 victory over the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on the first day of the Captain D's Surf and Turf Classic in Dahlonega, Ga. at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium.
The Javelinas improved to 15-7 on the year with their second straight win while UWP drops to 8-4.
"We pitched well and played really good defense," said coach Craig Nicholson. "It was good to see our offense get going a little bit. We had some really good at-bats early in the game and then were able to play add on late."
Neither side scored in the first inning, but TAMUK built a two-out, four-run rally in the second that started with a Mays single. The next two batters reached safely to load the bases and freshman Katherine Flores (Corpus Christi, Texas) lined a single into left-center for two RBIs. Junior Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) and sophomore Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) then added run-scoring hits of their own to cap the frame with the score at 4-0.
UWP got a run back in the third, but TAMUK's response came a couple frames later, when Kelly struck out, but reached on a wild pitch to begin the fifth. She promptly swiped second and third and touched home thanks to a base knock by junior Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas). Leibas upped her team's lead to 6-1 three batters later, scoring on a Mays' sacrifice fly. Mays added insurance for her team in the seventh with a two-run double.
Smith and Carrion never let the Rangers mount a serious threat to their team's advantage. In 4 2/3 innings, Smith only walked one, allowed three hits and retired the side in order in three of the first four stanzas. After UWP scored their second run in the fifth, Carrion took over in the circle and the Rangers only managed one hit the rest of the way. She induced a double play for the final outs of the sixth and worked around lead-off single in a scoreless seventh.
Two games are on the schedule for the Javs on Saturday, who will play No. 7 North Georgia at 11 a.m. and Wisconsin-Parkside at 1 p.m. You can keep up with everything related to Javelina softball all season long by following @TAMUKSB on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and subscribe to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
