KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 2 ranked and third-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team has reached the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for a third straight year and for the second time in those three trips, the Javelinas will begin regional play by squaring off against the tournament's sixth seed, the No. 19 Oklahoma Christian Eagles, with the two teams scheduled to meet on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the John Cain Family Softball Complex in Commerce, Texas.
The last time these two program's found themselves pitted against each other in the NCAA Tournament was in 2019 in Kingsville and they ended up meeting twice in that pod in the South Central Region, with TAMUK taking both contests by scores of 5-0 and 5-4.
A repeat of the pitching matchups from those two contests remains a possibility, as junior Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) started both games for TAMUK, first against OC's Kali Crandall, then facing off with Lindsey Stoeckel.
In 2022, Stoeckel and Crandall combined to go 26-8 with Crandall earning all-conference honors for the third time in her career, while Stoeckel pitched to a 1.63 ERA and was named to the All-Lone Star Conference Tournament Team. Castillo also logged her third straight all-league honor and tied for the team-lead with 14 wins on a staff that posted an LSC-best 2.01 ERA.
While some of the key figures from those 2019 encounters remain for both sides, the teams on the field will mostly look very different, particularly at the plate. None of TAMUK's top six run producers this season, a group that includes all-conference picks Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.), Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas), Aaliyah Ortiz (San Antonio, Texas) and Jennifer Giesey (Crystal Lake, Ill.) were in the lineup for the Javs during the 2019 regional tourney. That quartet has contributed to a 2022 TAMUK onslaught that has set program records for homers, doubles and runs scored.
The list of Eagles who've arrived since 2019 includes sluggers Aaliyah Brown, Brooklin Bain and Kylie Janzen, all of whom are in the top 20 in the Lone Star Conference in slugging percentage. All three were also granted all-league status and can claim to be their team's top three players in terms of RBIs. In three games against the Javs in 2022, Brown has recorded four hits in five at-bats and five RBIs, including a three-run dinger she hit in the LSC Tournament semifinals that counted for OC's only three runs in a 10-3 TAMUK triumph.
The other two squads in this regional pod with the Eagles and Javs are the second-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce Lions and the No. 7 seed, the St. Mary's Rattlers.
The Lions earned the right to host this side of the regional bracket by rattling off three straight victories in the LSC Tournament to capture the league title. They enter the national postseason ranked 14th nationally and with an offense that leads the LSC in homers and stolen bases. Two TAMUC pitchers, senior Emily Otto and sophomore Alyssa LeBlanc, were chosen for the All-LSC First-Team and they anchor a pitching staff that topped the conference leaderboard in strikeouts.
The Rattlers are in the tournament field for the 16th time in program history and the first time since 2017. That postseason berth comes as a result of 36-17 record that included six victories over ranked foes. StMU will be looking to ride the arm of junior pitcher Catalina Cavazos, whose 19 victories tied her for second-most in the LSC. In her team's first LSC Tournament game, Cavazos held St. Edward's to one hit in seven scoreless innings, helping the Rattlers collect a 1-0 triumph.
Follow every pitch during TAMUK's NCAA Tournament run by visiting Javelinaathletics.com, where links will be provided to live video and live stats and a recap of each game will be published. Stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina softball in the lead up to the NCAA Tournament by following @TAMUKSB on Twitter and Instagram, liking Javelina Sports on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com.
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