KINGSVILLE, Texas - Late-inning heroics were the highlight of an otherwise muted series opener between the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program and Eastern New Mexico on Thursday at Nolan Ryan Field with a walk-off win favoring the hosts in the Lone Star Conference matchup.
"I'm extremely happy with the perseverance," said head coach Jason Gonzales. "I told [the team] afterwards that I wasn't necessarily that pleased with the execution. What I was worried about came to fruition in terms of not having played for two weeks and there was some rust there, more so from the hitters.
"We needed to make some adjustments throughout the game and we failed to do that at times, but what I was proud of was the pitching staff. They kept us in the game, we stayed away from a three-run inning, and when you do that you always give your team a chance."
The Javelinas (16-9, 15-9 LSC) were down to their last strike in the bottom of ninth in a one-run deficit to the Greyhounds (8-28, 7-26 LSC) before redshirt junior Will Arnold (Magnolia, Texas), who made his first appearance in over two months, drove in the tying run that eventually led to the walk-off infield single from senior Seth Spinn (Holland, Texas) in extras for the 5-4 decision.
"This was a dream," said Arnold, regarding his game-tying at-bat. "Being in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and tying it up, it was more than I could have imagined in my first game back."
The Hogs took the roundabout way to get to that point, despite taking an early lead in the bottom of the first on a double down the left-field line from junior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) to score freshman Damian Rodriguez (McAllen, Texas) with two outs.
Rodriguez reached on a one-out single into right and swiped second before he came home on the hit from Servin.
ENMU tied it in the top of the fourth after Braeton Matthews scored on a wild pitch from junior Kolby Lunsford (Helotes, Texas). Lunsford took the no-decision with five strikeouts before he was given the hook with two outs in the sixth.
The next two runs from the visitors both came in that sixth inning that bounced Lunsford from the game after Andres Quintana dropped a double out in right field that plated both Nick Schifftner and Nicholas Tamez.
TAMUK immediately got the runs back in the home half of the sixth after Spinn scored on a wild pitch before a failed double steal with Servin and classmate Hayden Fails (Sweeny, Texas) at the corners gave the former enough room to come home before the final out was made.
ENMU pushed its fourth run across on a single to left-center from Cole Luedeking in the top of the seventh and the hosts were unable to get the tying run home until the bottom of the ninth.
Freshman Garrett Thompson (New Braunfels, Texas) started the rally with a one-out single dropped into right and stole second in the next at-bat. Arnold began his plate appearance with a 3-1 count before he fouled off the next two pitches and took the seventh offering from Cooper Hamilton back up the middle to cap Thompson.
The Greyhounds put runners at second and third with two outs in the top of the first extra-inning frame before a timely strikeout of Matthew Kory from junior Mason Foster (Dilley, Texas) kept the score evened at four apiece. Redshirt senior Kohl Ullman (Houston, Texas) took a one-out single down the left-field line in the home half of the 10th and moved up to second after Rodriguez reached on an uncharacteristic catcher's interference.
Both Ullman and Rodriguez upped the stakes in the next at-bat as the cleanly-executed double steal put the winning run 90 feet away for Spinn. The senior transfer from Temple College saw the 3-0 pitch sail by as a strike as the infielders came in to cut off the run.
A hotshot grounder to the second baseman at the edge of the infield grass gave Ullman enough room to sprint home for the win as the ball wasn't fielded cleanly, the third time this year the Blue and Gold came away with the win in walk-off fashion and the second time it had occurred in extra innings.
"We had a chance at the end," added Gonzales. "These guys have been resilient all year and there's no quit in them."
Game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday, April 30, at Nolan Ryan Field.
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