Kingsville - Texas A&M-Kingsville snuffed out the St. Mary's bats in a 5-1 victory to extend its win streak to nine Friday at Nolan Ryan Field.
The Javelinas (18-9, 17-8 LSC) continued to pile up the wins, racking up their LSC-best ninth win in a row and 10th conference win in a row on their home field. They did so with a strong defensive showing, holding the Rattlers (14-9, 12-9 LSC) to just one run for the first time since an 8-0 loss to Angelo in February.
Karson Shepherd (4-2) was called to start on the mound for the Javelinas, going 3.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowing just one run.
Ruben Rendon III,
Marco Martinez and
Tyler Schumann would finish the game off with 5.2 combined scoreless innings with six strikeouts.
Game one got off to an exciting start for the Javelinas, as
Maurice Martinez was slotted as the lead-off hitter for the Javelinas for the first time in his career. Martinez would immediately make his presence felt, reaching third thanks to a Rattler error.
Damian Carreon would get him home with an RBI as the Hogs took an early lead.
With Shepherd dealing on the mound early in the game, the Javelinas would build on their lead in the third thanks to an RBI-double from
Easton Hewitt that got
Elijia West home. St. Mary's got one back in the top of the fourth, but
Vincent Sanchez got two batters home after two Rattler errors loaded the bases to put the Hogs up three.
Rendon and Martinez held the Rattlers at bay in the fifth, six and seventh as
Joshua Endo got an insurance run on the board, driving
Isaiah Aguilar home. The Rattlers made it interesting in the top of the ninth, plating two batters on first and second. Schumann handled the pressure situation well as the Hogs stifled the Rattler offense.
Games two and three for the four-game series against the Rattlers is set for 2:00 p.m. CST start time. Fans of the Javelinas can watch live on FloCollege or follow live coverage at JavelinaBSB on Twitter.
