HOUSTON – A pair of spectacular pitching performances from freshman Carissa De Los Santos (Kingsville, Texas) and sophomore Beth Montes (San Antonio, Texas) spurred the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team to a 7-0 win over the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm and a 2-1 victory over the No. 25 Central Missouri Jennies on Sunday during the final day of the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational in Houston.
These two victories boost the Javelinas' record to 3-1 through the season's first weekend
"I thought we pitched it really well and did enough offensively to win both games," said coach Craig Nicholson. "We left a bunch of runners on in game two and will need to continue to improve our offensive execution moving forward."
TAMUK vs. Southern Nazarene
De Los Santos made her collegiate debut in TAMUK's first triumph of the day and she completely stymied the Crimson Storm for seven innings. The Kingsville native allowed only a single hit through five innings, at one point retiring 13-in-a-row. When SNU did put runners on in the final two frames, De Los Santos maneuvered out of trouble in both instances to keep her shutout intact. Her line at day's end included eight strikeouts, no walks and only three singles allowed.
Not much support was required for De Los Santos, but her teammates provided her with an early cushion by tallying four runs in the second, a rally that started with a single and a hit batter. Senior Kaylee Dietrich (Phoenix, Ariz.) then delivered an RBI base hit to open the scoring. A single courtesy of junior Jackie De Los Santos (Kingsville, Texas) brought in run No. 2, followed by a Jennifer Giesey (Crystal Lake, Ill.) sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout from junior Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas).
The Javs fifth run was scored in the third thanks to a Natalie Rodriguez (Edinburg, Texas) double and a Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.) single. The game's final two runs were scored in the sixth on an RBI triple from Cervantes and run scoring single off the bat of Rodriguez. De Los Santos did the rest in the circle.
TAMUK vs. Central Missouri
TAMUK' second game of the day was a pitcher's duel, as Montes traded zeroes with UCM's Kyleigh Lay. Despite the Javs putting multiple runners on in three of the first four frames, it was the Jennies who scored first, due to an error, a sacrifice and a two-out single in the third.
It wasn't until the fifth the Javelinas broke through against Lay and it was the big bat of sophomore Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) that did the trick. She led off the fifth with her third home run of the weekend to draw her team level.
One inning after Gonzales' bomb, the Blue and Gold jumped into the lead. With two outs, Cervantes poked a single into left and Gonzales then drew a walk to bring up Rodriguez. TAMUK's right fielder slapped a single into left that sent Cervantes racing home with the go-ahead run.
Montes made sure her squad's slim lead stood up. After UCM scored in the third, she allowed just one more hit and finished the day by retiring the final 10 hitters she faced. A perfect seventh inning punctuated a two-win day for the Javelinas.
TAMUK's next chance to take the field comes on Friday, when they'll take on Ouachita Baptist at 4:30 p.m. in Portland, Texas. 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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