Kingsville - With the Javelinas in must-win mode, the Texas A&M - Kingsville softball team used clutch hitting and stellar pitching to secure a sweep of Texas Woman's with 8-6 and 2-1 wins on Senior Day.
In between the doubleheader, the team honored its four graduating seniors, first baseman
Kaylynne Ruiz, second baseman
Sophie Campbell, left fielder
AJ Jasso, and center fielder
Lindsey Evans. Those four seniors made their mark on both games, helping to lift the team to a pair of much-needed victories as the Javelinas kept their Lone Star Conference tournament hopes alive.
The day saw nine different multi-hit performances from the home team, including a pair of 2-3 throwings from Evans. More than that, six different Javelinas drove in at least one run throughout the day, led by Evans with three, and right fielder
Seleste Compian and Jasso each with two.
After a slow start to game one, the contest quickly became a shootout, with TAMUK's five-run bottom of the fifth giving the team its first and only lead of the game, one which it would not relinquish. The Pioneer's struck first, plating a run in both the first and the third inning, only one of which was earned for freshman right hander
Arianna Alaniz. The Javelinas finally started sending their runs home in the bottom of the third, as Jasso shot a double into left center, scoring Kingsville's first run of the day.
The Pioneers responded quickly, scoring another two unearned runs in the fourth inning as TAMUK's defense adjusted to the loss of sophomore shortstop
Anabella Ramirez, who left the game with an ankle injury after being slid into covering the bag at second. Freshman third baseman
Alexis Soliz continued her late-season groove, however, responding to TWU with an RBI shot into right to again slip the road team's lead.
Then, the floodgates opened. Kingsville ran into balls early and often in the fifth inning, with sophomore
Dakota Martinez starting the party via a solo bomb into left field, cutting TAMUK's deficit to just one. Just a few at-bats later, Compian cleared the bases with a stand-up triple, giving the Javelinas their lead. Two batters and a pitching change later, Evans finished off Kingsville's scoring in the frame with a two RBI single.
Though TWU got a pair of runs back in the sixth, a Martinez head-first dive into home plate to beat the tag gave TAMUK an insurance run heading into the seventh. Once there, thanks to Alaniz's 11th and 12th strikeouts of the day, the Javelina defense put the finishing touches on a big win.
Game two saw almost just as much drama, but in a far different way. Despite giving up seven hits in the game, freshman left hander
Esther Martinez pitched an absolute gem, forcing TWU to go 0-11 with runners in scoring position, and leave eight runners stranded on her way to a one-run complete game win. She punched out a season-high six and walked just one batter, using 111 pitches to get through 35 batters and all seven innings.
Offensively, game two was powered by the team's two graduating graduate students, Jasso and Evans. Evans sent freshman second baseman
Faith Nunez home with an RBI single in the first and, though TWU tied it up in the fourth, the game became a pitcher's duel, with Martinez working herself out of jam after jam to keep the contest knotted at one-a-piece.
Then, it was Jasso's turn to step up, with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the player nick-named 'Big Mama' came through in the biggest of moments, walking it off with a shot through the left infield. Her final at-bat at Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field ended with her third hit and second ribbie of the day.
Kingsville now has just one weekend of play left in its regular season, as it takes on St. Mary's and St. Edward's on the road in a pair of doubleheaders next weekend.
