KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program put on a well-rounded display at Nolan Ryan Field on Friday to pick up a 7-1 win over UAFS in the first game of the Lone Star Conference series.

"For us, it has to start on the mound," said head coach Jason Gonzales, "and we got a very dominant performance from Kolby [Lunsford]. He did what he was supposed to do, even though we limited him, and he filled up the strike zone. Tyler [Henson] did the same thing, then [Jacob] Vasquez and [Alex] Canul were able to finish it off.

"I thought the hitters did a good job most of the game, they continued to score runs and put pressure on [the opposing pitchers]. That's what we needed to do in order to get this victory tonight."

The Javelinas (3-1, 3-1 LSC) took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back as the Lions (2-5, 1-3 LSC) were held scoreless after their first trip to the plate.

UAFS got its lone run after Cash Balentine scored on a sacrifice fly to left from Nolan Riley. Balentine reached safely after lining a single into center, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved up to third on a groundout from Dylan Hurt before he trotted home.

TAMUK needed only two batters to even the count in the home half of the opening frame after senior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) worked a full count and took the sixth pitch from Logan Grant over the head of Balentine in center field for a leadoff triple. Classmate Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) brought him home in the next at bat with a single dropped into right.

The Hogs tacked on two more after loading the bases with a single from junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) and a walk from freshman Matthew Castro (Corpus Christi, Texas) for senior Aldo Buendia (Laredo, Texas) who reached on an infield single after his line drive caromed off the pitcher's glove and settled out of range of the second basemen for the first run.

A bases-loaded walk issued to sophomore Steven Bonuz (Port Lavaca, Texas) plated Servin for the final run of the rally with the 3-1 score favoring the hosts heading into the second.

Senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) brought in the first of two runs in the bottom of the second, with Ullman talking the long walk home on the double dropped deep down the left field line. Spinn later scored on a single poked into left from Servin for a 5-1 cushion going into the third.

Bonuz recorded his second RBI of the day in the bottom of the fourth after he ripped a single back up the middle with runners at first and second, scoring freshman Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas). Bonuz also tallied the final RBI of the day with a double into left in the bottom of the fifth to score Castro.

By the end of the game, Bonuz finished with two hits in three at bats to go with three RBI, one of four Hogs with multiple hits as Buendia, Servin and Ullman all collected two hits.

Junior Kolby Lunsford (Helotes, Texas) was given the reins for the Hogs on the hill and finished with five innings pitched and seven strikeouts while allowing only two hits for his first win of the year. He gave way to classmate Tyler Henson (Abilene, Texas) in the sixth who pitched two scoreless innings with three punch outs, while redshirt sophomore Jacob Vasquez (Victoria, Texas) took over in the eighth and struck out one in 1.1 innings on the hill.

The Lions loaded up the bases in the top of the ninth with one out, prompting Gonzales to bring in left-handed senior Alex Canul (Edinburg, Texas) who responded with a strikeout and a groundout to squelch the rally and preserve the win.

Saturday will feature games two and three of the series with the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. CT at Nolan Ryan Field.

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