Kingsville - Texas A&M-Kingsville earned its second series win of the season by taking down Cameron University, 8-5, Sunday at Nolan Ryan Field.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Javelinas (4-2, 4-2 LSC) had two runners aboard in scoring position in a 4-4 ball game.
Jaden Cavazos then became the hero of the day, forcing a squeeze with a short-bunt right in between the Aggie (3-3, 3-3 LSC) catcher and pitcher. The defensive throw was not in time as
Joshua Endo scored the go-ahead run, which was quickly followed by
Landon Salinas crossing home to make it a 6-4 ballgame.
The Javelinas were not done doing damage in the eighth however, as
Isaiah Aguilar would get on base thanks to a fielding error by the third baseman that scored Cavazos to make it a 7-4 game.
Braden Duff then sacrificed his bat to force another squeeze, bringing in Aguilar to make it a four-run ballgame.
Cameron would attempt to rally in the top of the ninth like they had done all series long. Junior pitcher
Clark Scallon was not letting that happen however, striking out an Aggie batter with two aboard for the first out of the inning. Cameron did plate a run, but it cost them a precious out to make it a three-run lead for the Javelinas. Scallon forced the final Aggie batter to get contact into the air that led Cavazos right underneath the ball to salt away the win.
Overall, the Javelina pitching staff put together quite the day, notching 17 total strikeouts to increase their total strikeout count on the year to 72, the current high mark in the Conference. A pair of Javelinas had career-best days from the mound,
Daniel Cardona got called to start and went 4.1 innings and matched a career-high in strikeouts with nine.
Brian Buchanan was called in for his immediate relief, tossing a new career-high seven strikeouts with seven in 3.1 innings of work. Endo also saw his first-ever action on the mound as a Javelina, however his debut did not last long.
The bats had an efficient day as well for the Hogs, notching eleven hits on the day.
Joshua Prado led the way with three hits on five at bats and scored two runs, one of which was a steal of home base in the third that tied the game.
Nathan Gamez led the team with a pair of RBI's that came in his only at bat, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth that made it a 4-3 ball game.
Texas A&M-Kingsville hits the road to central Texas to take on UT-Permian Basin in a four-game series. Javelina fans can watch the game on FloCollege or follow the action at JavelinaBSB on X.
