Kingsville - Riding a five-game winning streak, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is set to host the Dustdevils from Texas A&M - International in its home-opening doubleheader on Sunday, with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m..
The games will also serve as the first Lone Star Conference games of the year for both squads. The two teams were picked to finish right next to each other in the conference standings by the LSC's Preseason Poll after a 2025 season where they did just that - with TAMUI ending its season one game ahead of the Javelinas in the Conference's East Division standings. Kingsville will hope to ride its hot streak into Sunday's games and take the first step toward its first trip to the LSC Tournament since 2024.
"After playing this second tournament in Colorado, we feel very confident in what we're doing," Head Coach
Orlando Salinas said. "We always tell the girls, we've just got to worry about our process and our development, like, don't even worry about the team that we're playing against, if we just execute and do the things that we know we can do well, the winning will take care of itself. That showed itself in our last five games."
The win streak is tied for the team's longest since 2024. The squad has rode to the streak on the strength of a red-hot offense, which has scored four or more runs in every game on the streak, including seven or more in three of the games.
Sophomore right fielder
Lainee Ballin has been a huge part of Kingsville's tear as well. She won the LSC's Hitter of the Week award for the five games she started for TAMUK (all wins), in which she hit a blistering .588 with two doubles and three home runs. She is one of five different Javelinas currently hitting over .400 (three are over .600 slugging).
Scouting the Competition: TAMIU Dustdevils (4-7)
After going 3-3 in their opening-weekend tournament at the DII First Pitch Invitational, the Dustdevils struggled last weekend at the ASU George & Ola McCorkle Challenge in San Angelo, going 1-4 on the weekend. The team was held to one or fewer runs in all four of its losses.
Despite those recent offensive struggles, the team boasts a pair of Dustdevils who have both played in all 11 of the team's games and are hitting above .300. Junior third baseman Queenandra Dunn leads the team in hits with 12 (.316), but freshman outfielder Miley Vinton has had a stellar start to her collegiate career and isn't far behind, leading the team in extra-base hits with three doubles, a triple, and two homers.
TAMIU will be looking to keep a three-game win streak against the Hogs alive on Sunday, while Kingsville will hope to restart a winning streak of its own, similar to the six-game tear against the Dustdevils, which stretched across three seasons, that ended last year.
"They're always a solid team," Salinas said. "They're a team that's going to get after it, play hard, so you can't let your guard down and you've got to make the routine play."
