KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program allowed eight runs to St. Edward's in the fourth inning on Saturday at Nolan Ryan Field and never recovered en route to a 13-1 loss in the second game of the Lone Star Conference series.
The Javelinas (15-9, 14-9 LSC) struck first in the bottom of the first inning but were held scoreless the rest of the way as the Hilltoppers (12-16, 11-15 LSC) forced a rubber match in the three-game series.
Freshman Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas) dropped a single down the left field line in the home half of the opening frame and stole second ahead of junior Giancarlo Servin's (Edinburg, Texas) trip to the plate. Servin ensured his efforts were not in vain as he lined a single to left that plated Rodriguez for the game's first run.
TAMUK starter junior Kolby Lunsford (Helotes, Texas) worked three scoreless innings before he ran into trouble in the fourth. He worked two outs in the stanza with a runner at first before a single into right-center from Davis Drewek sparked the SEU rally.
The first three runs came across courtesy of a single into right from Kyler Kerlin. The Hilltoppers tacked on two more on a single from Matthew Giles and Chase Cos before the Hogs went to the bullpen.
The switch failed to slow the visitors as they ended up with three more runs in the inning, the first on a bases-loaded walk issued to Cullen Ainsworth followed by two runs on a double to left from Turner Olsen that set the score at 8-1 going into the bottom of the fourth.
SEU starter Jack Granack managed to stifle the home lineup and at one point didn't allow a hit in 14 plate appearances between the third and seventh innings as a one-out double to right-center from freshman Garrett Thompson (New Braunfels, Texas) ended the run.
The Hilltoppers tacked on another run in the fifth and one in the seventh before three insurance runs came across in the top of the ninth.
Thompson ended up at third in the bottom of the seventh with one out but was unable to cut into the lead. TAMUK had two runners reach safely with one out in the eighth in a rally that was squelched by a groundball double play, and loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth after Granack was finally chased from the game.
The bases-loaded rally was cut short not long after a pitching change from SEU as a pop fly was gloved in foul territory for the second out, while the final out went into the books as a strikeout to cement the final score.
The final game of the series is set for 1 p.m. CT at Nolan Ryan Field on Sunday, April 18.
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