KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program rode the arm of newcomer Logan Garza (Round Rock, Texas) and rallied for three runs in the ninth of game three to claim a Lone Star Conference series win over UAFS on Saturday at Nolan Ryan Field.

"What we needed from Logan [Garza] was masterful," said head coach Jason Gonzales, "and that's exactly what he gave us. We had an opportunity early in the game get away from us but we kept in striking range and the guys showed a lot of fight in the ninth inning to come back and not only win the game but win the series. So we'll take it and move on."

The Javelinas (4-2, 4-2 LSC) dropped the first half of the doubleheader after the Lions (3-6, 2-4 LSC) came away with a 13-1 decision, but responded with a walk-off single from senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) in the second half to finish the weekend on top.

GAME ONE

UAFS used Brayden Johnson of the day's first game to take the 13-1 decision. Johnson threw for five innings and struck out six to pick up his first win of the year while holding the Hogs to four hits on the game.

The Lions found the plate in five of the contests' seven innings, with two runs coming home in the first, one in the third, three in both the fourth and fifth, and four more in the seventh. The Javelinas' lone run came across in the bottom of the fifth after senior Austin De Leon (Frisco, Texas) reached on a bunt single and advanced to third on a UAFS miscue before classmate Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) plated him on a ground ball to the shortstop.

Redshirt junior Amado Almanzar (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) was given the start for the hosts but was chased after 3.2 innings on the hill as he surrendered six runs on five hits despite sitting down five Lions on strikes.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day became a pitcher's duel through the first five innings as neither side made headway on the bases. Garza sat down six of the seven leadoff batters he faced on the day and had multiple strikeouts in five of his seven innings of work.

Garza finished with 12 strikeouts, which featured a third inning where he struck out the side, the most strikeouts in a game by a Javelina pitcher since the 2018 season when junior Tyler Flores (San Antonio, Texas), who was in the midst of an LSC Freshman of the Year season, and Isaiah Lybarger did so thrice. Flores did so in a 16-2 rout of No. 17 Angelo State on April 6 and repeated the feat in the thrilling NCAA South Central Regional game against No. 6 West Texas A&M on May 19, while Lybarger sat down 12 in a 7-3 win against Cameron on May 5.

The transfer from Our Lady of the Lake had a no-hitter going through six innings before a leadoff single from Nolan Riley in the seventh brought it to an end. The Lions ended up with their first run of the game in the frame after Riley later scored on a single from Tristan Kalina down the right field line.

Garza's final line was seven innings pitched with 12 strikeouts to only one walk, two hits and one earned run for the no-decision.

The Hogs struck first in the contest, however, when junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) drew a walk to start the sixth stanza, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Matthew Castro (Corpus Christi, Texas) and scored on a single to right from redshirt junior Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas).

UAFS took over the lead in the top of the eight after a Javelina miscue and a pair of walks loaded up the bases for Riley, who plated Brooks Sunny on a sacrifice fly to left, while Dylan Hurt later scored on an infield single to third base for a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the frame.

TAMUK was held scoreless in the eighth but returned the favor in the top of the ninth to set the stage for Spinn's heroics. Freshman Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas) led off the home half of the frame with a solo shot to straightaway center field for his first career round tripper. He worked a 2-2 count before lifting the fifth offering from Coby Greiner to the deepest part of the park.

A fielder's choice bunt two batters later set up junior Reid Baty (Laramie, Wyo.) at first with one out as he ended up in scoring position on a ground ball to third base from senior Aldo Buendia (Laredo, Texas).

Ullman became the first critical domino to fall in the eventual walk-off as he ripped a double into left to score Baty, while Spinn dropped a single to right to prompt the dugout-clearing celebration for the series win.

The Javelinas return to action next week as they pay a visit to Oklahoma Christian on Friday, March 5, for the first of three games.

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