SAN ANTONIO — On Monday, the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team earned a 10-4 victory in the series finale against the St. Mary's Rattlers in Lone Star Conference play at Dickson Field.
The Javelinas (16-6, 14-6 LSC) bested the Rattlers (7-15, 5-15 LSC) to earn a series split with redshirt senior
Brandon Symmank (Cypress, Texas) striking out six in five innings of work to earn his third win of the season. Additionally, Symmank allowed just one walk and three hits en route to the victory.
The game featured a trio of home runs from sophomore
Shelby Becker (Giddings, Texas), classmate
Nick Wolff (Klien, Texas), and freshman
Kyle Perales (Hildago, Texas), while Becker logged three RBIs and earned a walk going 3-5 at the plate.
Becker put the Javelinas on the scoreboard in the top of the first, smashing a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for the first home run of his Blue and Gold career.
Later, in the second, TAMUK doubled its lead as Wolff led off the inning with a solo shot of his own, marking the sophomores second round-tripper of the season.
The Pack added four runs with two outs in the fourth inning as sophomore
Matthew Castro (Corpus Christi, Texas) scored redshirt freshman
Ramsey Amador (Edinburg, Texas) on a single for the Javelinas' third run. Castro swiped second, sophomore
Garrett Thompson (New Braunfels, Texas) worked a walk, and senior
Kyler Bumstead (Kountze, Texas) was clipped by a pitch loading up the bases for Becker.
The Giddings native delivered his second RBI of the day, on a single through the left side, before senior
Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) stepped into the batter's box with ducks on the pond. Servin then dropped a hit into left-center that allowed Bumstead and Thompson to cross the plate for a 6-0 Blue and Gold lead.
In the fifth, Castro and Thompson added two more runs, increasing the Javelina lead to eight. Back-to-back walks were earned by Amador and redshirt sophomore
Ivan Duarte (Juarez, Mexico), prompting the pair to execute a double steal putting runners in scoring position with one out. Castro worked a full count before knocking a sacrificed fly ball into left field, scoring Amador, before Duarte crossed the plate on a Thompson single into the gap.
Symmank was relieved by sophomore
Colton Taylor (Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada) in the sixth as Taylor logged four strikeouts in two innings, allowing just a hit to keep the Javelina lead intact.
Becker picked up another RBI in the seventh, working a bases-loaded walk that scored redshirt sophomore
Jessie Gonzalez (Robstown, Texas), who entered the game as a pinch-runner.
Perales smacked his fifth home run of the season in the eighth inning, touching all the bases after drilling the first pitch he saw over the left field wall. The Rattlers broke through in the bottom of the inning, putting a three-run dent in the Blue and Gold lead, resulting in a 10-3 score line.
In the bottom of the ninth, the StMU put another run on the scoreboard, but it was too little too late as the Hogs found three outs, securing a 10-4 win in the series finale.
The Javelinas now gear up for a four-game LSC series against Lubbock Christian, beginning Thursday at Nolan Ryan Field, with first pitch tabbed for 6 p.m.
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