KINGSVILLE, Texas – Sophomore Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) began the day with a complete-game three-hitter and freshman Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) collected four hits as the No. 23 Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team picked up a pair of victories on day two of the Kingsville Tournament, topping the Columbia Cougars, 3-1, then edging the St. Mary's Rattlers 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas.
"The big thing is," said coach Craig Nicholson, "after the first three or four innings of game one, we settled in. I feel like we're pressing a little bit at times and we just have to relax and put together good at-bats and good things will happen if we can do that."
Columbia vs. TAMUK
Castillo and Lexi Dickerson spent seven innings locked in a pitcher's duel in which neither one allowed an extra base hit. Both sides threatened in the first frame and an Allison Keen RBI single gave the Cougars the day's first lead. A TAMUK opportunity bottom of the inning came to nothing when Dickerson used a popup and a strikeout to strand runners on second and third.
Both twirlers kept the score frozen at 1-0 until the fifth, when a single and a hit batter put two on for the Javs. With one out, sophomore Makenzie Mays (Conroe, Texas) lifted a sacrifice fly into left to draw her team even.
One inning later, singles by Claire Chernosky (Sugar Land, Texas), Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) and Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) loaded the bases and Gonzales whacked another hit through the left side to tally a pair and put TAMUK in front, 3-1.
That lead was plenty for Castillo, who finished the day by retiring the final 12 batters she faced. All totaled, the sophomore right-hander allowed three hits, only walked one and struck out nine.
St. Mary's vs. TAMUK
The Javelinas found themselves facing an early deficit again against the Rattlers, who used an Amber Gonzales RBI single to break the ice in the second inning. The first batter in TAMUK's half of the second was junior Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas) and she sent a rocket over the wall in left-center for her second homer of the year to tie the score.
Two StMU runs immediately put the visitors back ahead in the third, but the Javs answered with another rally in the bottom of the frame, which started with Kelly and Cervantes reaching base. Two batters later, Gonzales rapped a run-scoring single into left and RBI singles by freshmen Natalie Rodriguez (Edinburg, Texas) and Katherine Flores (Corpus Christi, Texas) soon followed, give the Blue and Gold the lead for the first time at 4-3.
In the fourth, Kelly and Cervantes lit the fuse again with consecutive one-out singles. They then executed a double steal and a throwing error on the play allowed Kelly to scamper home. Cervantes touched the plate when Gonzales sent a grounder through the left side for her fourth hit of the day, giving the home side a three-run advantage.
In the circle, Beth Montes (San Antonio, Texas) kept the lead intact and finished her night with three straight strikeouts and eight total in 4 2/3 innings. Senior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) relieved Montes in the fifth and set down five of the first six hitters she faced before the Rattlers put two one with two out in the sixth. A double by Abigail Carney plated two runs to bring StMU to within a base hit of tying the game, but Smith struck out Bari Christian to ice the victory.
Next up for the Javelinas is a road trip to Arkansas that will start on Tuesday with a doubleheader in Arkadelphia against Henderson State. Stay current with Javelina softball by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on both Twitter and Instagram, liking the Javelina Sports Facebook page, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
