PORTLAND, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team rolled up 29 runs on 33 hits in a pair of victories, the first one a 9-1 rout of the Ouachita Baptist Tigers and it was followed by a 20-1 thrashing of the Hillsdale College Chargers on Saturday afternoon at the Portland Sports Complex in Portland, Texas.
The Javelinas continue adding to their win streak, which now stands at six games and they're 6-1 on the season.
"I thought we were really good in all aspects of the game today," said coach Craig Nicholson. "Pitchers did a nice job, we made some good defensive plays and our offense was really good all day. It was good to see a few people get their first college hit and I like that we were able to use some of our depth today."
TAMUK vs. Ouachita Baptist
The scoring in TAMUK's first game of the day began in the first inning, when senior Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) scored on a groundout and junior Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) touched home on an error.
In the second, senior Jennifer Giesey (Crystal Lake, Ill.) hit the first of seven Javelina homers on the day, lifting a solo homer to left to make the score 3-0 and Kelly added another run to that margin later in the frame when she came across on a wild pitch. One inning later, sophomore Natalie Rodriguez (Edinburg, Texas) sent a solo shot of her own over the wall in center and a double steal by sophomore Sarah Montes (San Antonio, Texas) and freshman Sydney Christopher (Saginaw, Texas) tallied the Javs' sixth run.
Rodriguez smacked her second homer of the game in the fourth and a Cervantes RBI single closed out TAMUK's scoring in the fifth.
In the circle, freshman Carissa De Los Santos (Kingsville, Texas) garnered her second win of the season by allowing only one run on two hits in five innings. De Los Santos, who has a 0.58 ERA in two starts, struck out four without walking a batter.
TAMUK vs. Hillsdale
For the third straight game, the Javelinas got on the board in the first inning, this time thanks to RBI knocks from freshman Aaliyah Ortiz (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.).
The Javs blew the game wide open with a 12-run second inning that began with a single, a walk and a Loren Kelly RBI single. After a throwing error brought in the frame's second run, sophomore Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) laced an RBI double into right and she scored the run that made it 7-0 on a groundout.
Senior Kaylee Dietrich (Phoenix, Ariz.) kept the rally going with her first Javelina homer, a two-run tater, and the next three batters reached to load the bases. The inning's eight run was forced in on a walk and Gonzales then cleared the bases with a grand slam that made the score 14-0.
The 12-run rally represents the most runs TAMUK has scored in an inning since they put up 12 in the first inning against Eastern New Mexico on April 14th, 2017.
The Javelinas continued tacking on, adding a solo jack from Onofrei in fourth and three-run bomb in the fifth, which was the first four-bagger in the Javelina career of sophomore Kytana Muniz (Harlingen, Texas).
This offensive outburst allowed sophomore Lizette Del Angel (Robstown, Texas) to cruise to her third win of year. Over five innings, Del Angel permitted one unearned run, three hits, no walks and picked up four strikeouts.
The Javelinas have two more games remaining in Portland, against Hillsdale and Henderson State, and they'll play them both on Sunday. 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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