KINGSVILLE, Texas- A bases-clearing triple by junior Michael Cervantes as well as potent pitching, allowed the Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team to claim a 5-3 victory in a Lone Star Conference series-opening matchup against Arkansas Fort Smith at Nolan Ryan Field on Saturday. 

"I thought Kobe [Jaramillo] threw well," said coach Jason Gonzales postgame. "I thought he threw well enough to win. We opened up an inning for him there with a routine error, and against any college baseball team when you give them some freebies, they're going to take advantage of it, and they did ... [we scored] five runs with two outs, and we've talked about this in terms of the toughness and the character of these guys … I was proud of them, the way they fought, and we talk about it all the time. They're never out of the fight, and you can do a lot of stuff if you have a lot of hope."

The Javelinas (14-13, 13-12 LSC) bested the Lions (6-17, 4-17 LSC) as junior Kobe Jaramillo twirled his second consecutive quality start and his third of the season, scattering three hits across seven frames with 10 strikeouts. 

The team allowed just one earned run, with sophomore Robbie Spencer (1-1) picking up the win, while Jakob Petross (1-3) was tagged with the loss and freshman Marco Martinez (2) the save. Additionally, sophomore Ivan Duarte went 3-for-4 at the plate, while junior Shelby Becker logged multiple hits and drove in a run.

Multiple miscues in the third allowed the Lions to take a 3-0 lead that they maintained for the following four frames. Spencer then came on in relief of Jaramillo, tossing a scoreless inning as the teams entered the bottom of the eighth. 

A leadoff single by Duarte put a runner on base ahead of back-to-back outs. Sophomore Jake Chapman worked a walk before a Becker single scored the first Blue and Gold run of the ballgame. Redshirt sophomore Ramsey Amador and junior Jacob Rosales were each issued free passes, loading up the bases for Cervantes, who smashed a bases-clearing triple into the gap, putting his squad up 5-3. 

Martinez came in and slammed the door shut, using three strikeouts to cement the Javelina victory and pick up his second save of the year. 

The teams will meet again on Saturday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader ahead of the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. 

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