KINGSVILLE, Texas- Senior Steven Bonuz drove in six runs as the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball program closed out a Lone Star Conference series against Eastern New Mexico with a 13-3 run-rule victory at Nolan Ryan Field on Sunday.Â
The Javelinas (7-6, 6-6 LSC) won their second consecutive series after besting the Greyhounds (4-8, 4-8 LSC) with Bonuz, junior Jake Chapman, sophomore Dalton Kramer, and junior Nick Wolff all hitting home runs.Â
"We're really playing good baseball," said coach Jason Gonzales after his squad's second consecutive series win. "One of the things that these guys have a good tendency to do is respond, and we talk to them all the time about how the most difficult thing and most important thing you'll ever do in your life is respond … They picked themselves off the mat, and winning two series in the last two weekends in this conference is pretty good because this is a tough conference and so any time you can you can win a series, you got to take it, But the mood is loose, we know we got a lot of work to do and you know, the only thing they've earned the right to do now is work harder."
Freshman Marco Martinez (1-0) picked up the first victory of his Blue and Gold career going 3.2 innings in relief of junior Cole Payne, who tossed the first 1.2 frames without allowing a hit. Damien Acosta (1-2) was tagged with the loss for ENMU.
The Javelinas wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first, with Kramer walking and Wolff slicing a single through the left side putting runners on base for Bonuz, who smashed a three-run bomb over the wall in right-center.
With the Javs up 3-0, the Greyhounds pushed a run across on the top of the second before a junior Garrett Thompson walk opened the bottom of the frame. Kramer sacrificed himself, and redshirt sophomore Hayden Johnson was issued a free pass, with Bonuz smacking a bases-clearing double that saw a 5-1 Blue and Gold lead.Â
TAMUK added two more in the fourth, as Wolff was plunked and Johnson walked, with the pair later scoring on a single by redshirt sophomore Ramsey Amador. A solo home run by Chapman in the fifth resulted in an 8-1 lead for the Hogs.
Spencer Roach knocked in a pair of runs for the Greyhounds in the top of the sixth, prompting senior Luis Martinez to take over on the mound. Martinez didn't allow a base runner through the final 1.2 innings of the ballgame, with his teams plating seven runs in the seventh to secure a run-rule victory.Â
The stanza began with a leadoff double by junior Jacob Rosales, with a Chapman single following shortly after. Thompson advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, prefacing a three-run home run by Kramer, followed by a Wolff solo shot. Now up 12-3, Johnson singled before making his way toward third on a wild pitch and scoring on a Bonuz walk-off run-rule single for a 13-3 final score.Â
The Javelinas will now take a trip to the Sooner State as they face the Cameron Aggies in a four-game Lone Star Conference series at McCord Field in Lawton, Oklahoma, beginning on Friday.Â
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