LUBBOCK, Texas – On the strength of a pair of stellar pitching performances and a glut of clutch hitting, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team swept the Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps in a doubleheader on Friday afternoon by scores of 4-0 and 11-2 in Lone Star Conference action at Plainscapital park in Lubbock, Texas.
With these two victories, the Javelinas have won three-in-a-row, are 24-9 overall and 16-6 the LSC. LCU is now 13-9 in conference play and 25-12 overall.
"We played really well today," said coach Craig Nicholson. "Our offense took a little while to get going against a really good pitcher in Taylor Franco, but eventually did enough to get a win and our pitching was really good all day. Saidi [Castillo] was great in game one and Lizette [Del Angel] really battled a good hitting ball club in game two."
GAME ONE
For six innings, the opener was a pitcher's duel between TAMUK sophomore Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) and LCU's Taylor Franco. Both hurlers frequently had to deal with runners on base, but each scoring opportunity was squelched.
In the top of the first, junior Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) singled and stole second, but was stranded there when Franco set down the next three hitters. Castillo issued two walks in the second before inducing consecutive ground balls to escape what would be LCU's best scoring opportunity. Defensive help for Castillo came from catcher Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.), who threw out two runners attempting to steal.
It wasn't until the game's final inning that the scoreless tie was broken by the Javelinas. Following a lead-off walk to sophomore Makenzie Mays (Conroe, Texas) and a sacrifice, junior Jennifer Giesey (Crystal Lake, Ill.) hit a two-run rocket to left for her fifth homer of the year and the game's first two runs. Three batters later, freshman Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) came up with a runner on and blasted a two-run dinger to right to double her team's advantage.
Castillo only needed to face three batters in the seventh to close out her first shutout of the year. She allowed only three singles and let just one runner get as far as third base in seven innings.
GAME TWO
Both teams found ways to get on the scoreboard early in the second game, TAMUK on a first-inning RBI single courtesy of junior Anastasia Leibas (Del Valle, Texas), LCU on a run-scoring double in the third.
The score remained tied until the fifth, when Mays got into a 2-2 pitch and sent it over the wall in left-center for a go-ahead solo homer. The Javelina lead was increased to 3-1 later in the inning when Gonzales singled through the middle to plate Kelly. LCU got a run back in their half of the fifth, but the Javs erupted for eight runs in the sixth to put the game away.
With two outs and the bases empty, Mays singled and came around to score on a Claire Chernosky (Sugar Land, Texas) double. Following an error and a stolen base, Kelly slapped a two-run single into left to make the score 6-2. Another error brought up Gonzales and she sent two more runs in with a double, then scored when Leibas sliced her own two-bagger into right-center. The third LCU error of the frame allowed the Javs' 10th run to cross the plate and a Natalie Rodriguez (Edinburg, Texas) RBI double closed out the scoring.
By tossing six innings of two-run ball, freshman Lizette Del Angel (Calallen, Texas) picked up her ninth win. Del Angel stranded runners in scoring position in four of her six frames, walked only two and struck out four.
The Javelinas will try to keep their win streak rolling when they visit the Angelo State Rambelles on Sunday for two games, with the first one beginning at 1 p.m. 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.
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