SAN ANGELO, Texas – Senior Logan Garza (Round Rock, Texas) gave the fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team six innings of stellar relief work and after dropping their first game of the day, 14-3, the Javelinas rebounded to take game two, 12-11, from the top-seeded Angelo State Rams on Friday afternoon at the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament at Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium in San Angelo, Texas.
This split means the teams will play one more time, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, to determine the winner of the region who goes on to the super regional series.
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys for responding after a tough loss," said coach Jason Gonzales, "and being able to come back against a tremendous team. To be able to force it to a Saturday somehow, some way, that's all we were looking for and see what happens at that point in time."
GAME ONE
The Rams wasted no time seizing the initiative in the opener, tallying four runs in the first inning, thanks in large part to an Aaron Walters three-run homer, and they added two more in the second to build a 6-0 lead.
The Javelinas first runs came across in the bottom of the second on two-run tater off the bat of sophomore Ivan Duarte (Juarez, Mexico), his second of the year. Unfortunately for the Javs, ASU responded with a three-spot in third and added one more in the fourth in increase their margin to eight.
Another TAMUK run came across in the fourth on an RBI single off the bat of senior Kyler Bumstead (Kountze, Texas), but it would be their last run of the game. Two tallies by ASU in the fifth and two more in the eighth completed the scoring.
GAME TWO
The second game got off to a much different start, as two Javelina hits in the top of the first brought up sophomore Jake Chapman (Boerne, Texas) and his bouncer to short allowed senior Giancarlo Servin (Edinburg, Texas) to touch home with the contest's first run.
That narrow lead grew to six in the third, which began with a hit and an error, putting two on for Servin, who lashed a two-run double into the left field corner. A groundout and a walk brought sophomore Shelby Becker (Giddings, Texas) to the plate and he launched a three-run moonshot to left to make the score 6-0.
The Rams erased that lead with a two-out rally in their half of the third, but the Hogs wasted no time responding. They staged their own two-out uprising in the fourth and it started with back-to-back singles courtesy of Servin and sophomore Nick Wolff (Klein, Texas) and Chapman then hit a rocket over the wall in center that put TAMUK back ahead, 9-6.
After the Hogs regained the lead, Garza took over. For five straight frames he kept ASU off the scoreboard, at one point retiring 12 out of 13 hitters. In the eighth, after a walk and a flyout, he ended the inning himself by snaring a liner and doubling Justin Lee off second. Garza would finish the night with just one walk against five strikeouts.
While Garza was throwing up zeroes, the Javs increased their lead, getting a run in the seventh when Duarte scored from third during a rundown and tacking on two more in the ninth thanks to a Duarte sacrifice fly and a wild pitch that plated Becker. Those runs proved critical when ASU rallied for five in the ninth and brought the winning run to the plate, but senior Brandon Symmank (Cypress, Texas) induced a popout from Kamden Kelton and the Javelinas held on for the victory.
Be sure to check Javelinaathletics.com for updates throughout the Hogs' NCAA Tournament run, including a recap at the conclusion of each day. Watch your Javelinas live on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy. Stay up-to-date with everything Javelina baseball at JavelinaAthletics.com, follow the program on Twitter @JavelinaBSB, and see recent news on Facebook at /JavelinaBSB.
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