KINGSVILLE, Texas - In a high-scoring game, the teams entered the eighth inning tied at 9-9 before the Javelinas loaded the bases and brought five across the plate to put away the Cameron Aggies in game four, 14-9, and split the season series.
The Javelinas (9-9, LSC 7-9) move back to .500 overall and split their first series of the season having having dropped their first two and winning the third. The Aggies (2-14, LSC 2-14) leave Kingsville with their first two wins and first series split of the season after taking games one and three.
Both team got cooking early as the Aggies brought home one run apiece in the first three innings, but the Hogs plated four in the second alone.
MJ Rodriguez got things going for the Javelinas on a two-run bomb over the center field fence get the inning started after a
Michael Cervantes walk. Rodriguez was not the only attendant of the home run party, however, as
Dalton Kramer shortly joined him three batter later on a two-run homer of his own to bring home
Seth Brecheen who had reached on a single thanks to an error.
The fourth inning saw both offenses come to life as the Aggies responded with a five-run inning to take a 8-4 lead, but the Javelinas mustered a response of their own, tallying another four-run inning in the bottom of the frame. Brecheen added on the Hogs' third two-run home run of the afternoon before a double from
Jake Chapman four batters later brought home two more, scoring
Jacob Rosales and Kramer who both reached on singles.
Both teams tacked on another run apiece in the sixth to keep the score tied at 9-9 entering the home stretch. After reaching base on a walk and advancing to third on a Chapman single, Rosales turned on the jets take advantage of a failed pickoff of Chapman to steal home plate.
Entering the bottom of the eighth inning still tied, the Javelinas exploded for five runs to put the game out of reach. Quickly loading the bases within the first four batters and with only one out, the Hogs looked primed to bring more runs across the plate, and that is exactly what happened. Chapman got the scoring going innocently enough, scoring
Garrett Thompson on a walk after being hit by the pitch.
With three runners still on base,
Kyle Perales picked up three RBIs in one swing of the bat thanks to a fielding error by the Aggie shortstop and further subsequent error by the second baseman as
Jaden Cavazos, Rosales, and Kramer all came in to score. Yet another Aggie error off the bat of
Vincent Sanchez brought home one more run before the end of the inning.
Though the Aggies had scored five runs in one inning earlier in the game, a repeat performance was not to be seen as the Javelina defense saw off the first three Cameron batters quickly and cleanly to secure the win, 14-9, and split the series.
Sergio Lopez (2-2) picks up the win for the Hogs after coming in in the fifth inning to take over for
Matt Vasquez. Nicolas Yard (0-3) is credited with the loss for CU.
UP NEXT
The Javelinas are on the road to Odessa, TX as they take on UT Permian Basin starting on Friday, Mar. 1 with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday.
