KINGSVILLE, Texas - The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team secured their second series victory in a row, sweeping a doubleheader against the Oklahoma Christian Eagles with two comeback victories, 2-1 and 9-8.
The Javelinas (20-13, 18-13 LSC) have the chance to sweep their second straight series tomorrow afternoon. The Eagles (6-23, 6-21 LSC) drop their second series in their last three.
GAME ONE
A low-scoring affair in game one, the Eagles were the first to strike in the fourth inning, bringing their lone run of the game across the plate off a single to left field.
The Javelinas responded an inning later in the fifth off the bat of a
Ramsey Amador double to right-center to score
Jacob Rosales, who reached two batters earlier on a single. The Hogs scored what would ultimately be the winning run in the next inning as a sacrifice fly to right from
MJ Rodriguez brought
Michael Cervantes home.
Clinging to the slim 2-1 lead entering the final inning, the Javelina defense cinched up tight, downing the Eagles' lineup in three straight batters to put game one to bed.
Sergio Lopez (4-3) is credited with the win for TAMUK, pitching all seven innings and racking up eight strikeouts. Chris Jones (1-2) is given the loss for OC.
GAME TWO
Things got off to a much hotter start in game two with both teams putting runs on the board in the third inning. The Eagles struck first once again, scoring one, before the Javelinas brought a response in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own.
Jaden Cavazos got things rolling for the Hogs with a solo inside-the-park home run to open up the inning, picking up an RBI by bringing himself around all four bases.
Kyle Perales tacked on the second run four batters later, following up an Amador double with one of his own to bring home Amador.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Eagles stormed ahead in the fifth, bringing six baserunners across the plate to take a 7-2 lead thanks to a double and a three-run home run. The Hogs mustered one run home in the bottom of the inning to keep themselves in contention as Amador opened the bottom of the frame with another solo home run, this time outside of the park.
The Eagles added on one more run in the final regulation inning to make the score 8-3 and were looking to put the Javelinas away with two outs in four batters, but the Hogs still had cards to play - loading the bases alongside the two outs. Cavazos picked up his second RBI, drawing a walk to score
Seth Brecheen, who opened the inning with a single.Â
With two outs, Rosales came up to the plate as the tying run and gave the Javelina fans exactly what they were hoping for, blasting a grand slam to left field to tie it up at 8-8.
The Javelina defense held strong once again when it mattered, downing the Eagles three-up-three-down in extra innings to keep the score at 8-8. Amador opened the bottom of the eighth reaching after getting hit by the pitch to put the winning run on base. A sacrifice bunt by Brecheen put him in scoring position. Two more Javelinas were walked to load the bases once more with only one out.
Eric Garcia came up to the plate and delivered his lone RBI of the night on the third straight walk by the Eagle pitchers to walk-off the game by bringing Amador home.
Daniel Cardona (2-1) picks up the win for the Javelinas while Gage Norvell (0-1) is pegged with the loss for the Eagles.
The Javelinas and the Eagles will meet one more time on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
