KINGSVILLE, Texas – Texas A&M-Kingsville's softball team will open its 2023 postseason campaign as the No. 6 seed in the Lone Star Conference Quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Oklahoma Christian on Friday at 11 a.m. at the UT Tyler Ballpark in Tyler, Texas.
The Javelinas (24-25, 21-20 LSC) enter the tournament after ending the regular season with a series win against Eastern New Mexico that featured Senior Jory Cervantes breaking the program record for hits in a career of 291 with a game winning three-RBI triple.
Cervantes, named first-team all-conference earlier this week, has led the Javelinas offensively hitting a team-high batting average of .383 in the leadoff spot for TAMUK with 11 RBIs, 39 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases.
Additionally, fellow first-team member Kayla Gonzales has provided plenty of power at the plate in 2023 posting a batting average of .365 across the regular season with 36 RBIs, eight home runs, 14 doubles, and a slugging percentage of .649, the tenth-highest in the conference.
The Eagles (34-14, 29-13 LSC) hit for the fourth-highest batting average in the conference at .302 while defensively recording the fifth-lowest team ERA of 2.75.
The impressive team ERA has been anchored by OC's Jill Dickinson with the ninth-best individual ERA on the year at 2.05 and conference best opposing batting average of .163 across 30 appearances.
Aaliyah Brown has led OC offensively with a .364 batting average with 43 RBIs, 18 runs, and slugging percentage of .543.
The Eagles swept the Javelinas in their three-game series only two weeks ago (April 21-22) with the average difference between the two teams being 3.6 runs.
TAMUK will most likely face OC's ace in Brown who threw five innings in her last start against the Blue and Gold allowing only one run on two hits as the Javs fell, 3-1.
Last season, the Javelinas knocked the Eagles out of the LSC Tournament last season in the semifinals as now sophomore Carissa De Los Santos dealt six and a third innings from the circle as Aaliyah Ortiz drilled a grand slam to help TAMUK to a 10-3 win.
If the Javelinas were to win, they would advance to the tournament semifinals set to by played on Friday at 4 p.m.
You can keep up with Javelina softball all year long by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on both Twitter and Instagram, liking the Javelina Sports Facebook page, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.
