TYLER, Texas-The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team forced a winner-take-all game three against the UT Tyler Patriots as sophomore Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) belted an extra-innings walk off single for a 6-5 win on Friday, before falling 6-4 in a Super Regional Championship rubber match.
"We battled our tails off all day long," said coach Craig Nicholson, "and that's been indicative of this team, especially over the last six weeks we really found ourselves and figured out how to compete at a high level until the game is over. It doesn't mean it always goes the way you want it. All day long today, they'd score and we'd answer and we just didn't have the last answer. Sometimes that's the way it goes, but I'm super proud of this group and the season that we've had."
GAME ONE
Gonzales collected three RBIs in the opener, including her walk-off knock that allowed Kelly to score her third run of the contest. Joining Gonzales with multiple runs batted in were senior Kaylee Dietrich (Phoenix, Arizona), who logged two, while junior Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Arizona) drove in one. Additionally, Gonzales recorded her 61st RBI of the season, representing a new program record.
The Javelinas broke the ice quickly with Kelly dropping a lead-off single into the outfield and taking third on another hit before charging home on a Gonzales safety. The run represented the 200th of Kelly's Blue and Gold career, a feat that she alone has accomplished. Shortly thereafter, sophomore Sarah Montes (San Antonio, Texas) crossed the plate on a hard-hit grounder by Onofrei, resulting in a two-run lead for the Javelinas.
The Patriots battled back in the top of the third, as a pair of singles were followed by back-to-back home runs that came courtesy of Ashley Perez and Tatum Goff and handed UTT a 4-2 lead. Two quiet innings followed prior to TAMUK tying things up in the sixth, as Gonzales worked a leadoff walk, Rodriguez slapped a single and Dietrich walloped a bases-clearing double into left.
UTT regained their lead in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly, but Gonzales and the Javs answered. Kelly and senior Jennifer Giesey (Crystal Lake, Ill.) slapped consecutive singles, putting runners on the corners for Gonzales, who hit a grounder to short that plated Kelly with the tying tally.
Freshman hurler Carissa De Los Santos (Kingsville, Texas), who tossed five innings of one-run relief work, kept UTT off the board in extras until the Javelinas broke through in the ninth. That rally started with Kelly logging her third hit of the day and she then swiped second. Two batters later, Gonzales laced a single up the middle, allowing Kelly to score and forcing a winner-take-all rubber match later in the day.
This win represented the team's 50th of the season, marking the second time the softball team reached the half-century mark and the first since the 2019 campaign.
GAME TWO
TAMUK again struck first, as junior Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) legged-out an infield single, prior to Giesey walk and a Gonzales hit by pitch that loaded up the bases. Sophomore Aaliyah Ortiz (San Antonio, Texas) worked a full count, before taking ball four and allowing Cervantes to dent home plate.
Sophomore Lizzette Del Angel (Robstown, Texas) kept the Patriots off the scoreboard until the third, when they broke through and plated a run on consecutive doubles by Courtney Plocheck and Goff.
After a scoreless fourth, both teams scored in the fifth, as UT Tyler broke the deadlock with another Goff RBI double, only for the Javs to load up the bases in their half of the frame and bring in two runs on a UTT error.
That 3-2 lead did not last long however, as UTT put two runners on before a Michelle Arias RBI single tied the score. They then took the lead on a sacrifice fly before increasing their edge to three on an RBI single and a double steal.
The Javelinas took one run off their 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, as Dietrich smoked a solo shot to left. Down to their last strike in the bottom of the seventh, Ortiz walked, and Onofrei singled to put the go-ahead run on base, but Sarah Gartman induced a grounder for the final out of the series.
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