Kingsville - Riding a historic offensive performance, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is headed to Laredo to take on the TAMIU Dustdevils in a Sunday doubleheader set for 12:15 p.m. and 2:45 p.m..

The Javelinas enter the weekend's competition riding a hot streak that's seen them win five of their last six contests. The team currently holds a 10-6 record in Lone Star Conference play, and are tied with three other teams for the fifth spot in the conference standings. 

"We've really put a premium on our offensive attack," Head Coach Orlando Salinas said. "When we go to practice, we've got a lot of different things that we're doing with our girls as far as recognizing the rise and recognizing the back door. They're working really hard, they're coming in for extra work, and we've got a lot of young prospects who are turning the corner right now and the hitting is contagious."

Offense has led the way for the Hogs, who are fresh off of a doubleheader sweep of UT-Dallas on Friday that saw the team total 30 runs across the two games. Twenty one of those runs came in the second game, the most runs scored in a single game by a Javelina team since 2005. It also marks the first time in school history that the squad has scored 20 or more runs in a single game two separate times in the same season. 

Entering the doubleheader, four different Javelinas are hitting .370 or above on the season, led by freshman OF Victoria Vargas, who is hitting .411 (12th in the LSC) with 15 walks (T-17th in the LSC). She is one of two freshmen and three underclassmen who are top 35 in the LSC in batting average.

Scouting the Competition: The TAMIU Dustdevils (8-21, 4-12 LSC)

The Dustdevils' matchup with Kingsville will be their first game since a dominant pair of wins over UT-Dallas last weekend (8-0, 11-7). Before that, however, TAMIU had dropped six straight games and 15 of its last 17, including a pair of losses to the Javelinas when the two teams faced off in mid February.

The squad's offense has struggled as of late, scoring more than two runs in a game just 11 times in its last 14 contests. The youth movement for the Dustdevils, however, has been on the rise, with a pair of underclassmen, freshman catcher Austyn Marriage and sophomore shortstop Sessy Moreno, leading the team in batting average. The pair are tied for the team lead in walks with 15 a piece and each boasts an on-base percentage above .400.

"In the Lone Star Conference, there is no team that you can take lightly," Salinas said. "It's just so, so competitive. I know Laredo just came back from playing Central Oklahoma, who's a ranked team, so they've got a lot of battles under their belt, and so do we. Home field advantage is real, and we're going into Laredo and we've got to continue to put the bat on the ball, play good defense, and pitch well."

Javelina Quick Hitters:

• Kingsville enters the weekend fresh off the largest offensive output of their season, dropping 30 total runs across a pair of wins over UT-Dallas on Friday (9, 21) - marking the second time already this year that the team has scored 26-plus runs in one doubleheader
• The 21-run performance in game two of that series set multiple records: the most runs scored in a single since 2005, and the first time in school history that a team has scored 20-plus runs in a single game twice in the same season
• Early in LSC play, the team came up with an upset win over No.13 Oklahoma Christian, the first win over a ranked opponent in LSC play for the Javelinas since 2024
• Early in the year, the Javelinas went on a tear, winning nine straight games, including the first four LSC games of their season - the streak is their longest since 2022
• Junior first baseman Dakota Martinez is fresh off of one of the best hitting weekends a Javelina has had in recent memory. She went 9-for-15 with six extra base hits and seven RBI - she hit for the cycle on Friday against Cameron, the first time a Javelina has accomplished such a feat since 2023
• For that stellar weekend, which saw D. Martinez hit post a .647 on-base percentage and slug 1.333, earned her the Lone Star Conference's Hitter of the Week award, the first of her career and second won by a Hog this season
• Senior RHP Andrea Martinez has stepped into a starting role for Kingsville and has been excellent, striking out 65 batters, the seventh-most in the LSC
• Early in the season, sophomore outfielder Lainee Ballin had a stellar weekend at the Southern Colorado Crossover, hitting .588 with three home runs, keying Kingsville to the first five of nine straight wins and earning the Lone Star Conference's Hitter of the Week award
• Freshman OF Victoria Vargas has had a great start to her collegiate career, hitting .411 (12th in the LSC), scoring 24 runs (T-18th in the LSC), and walking 15 times (T-17th in the LSC). So far this year, she boasts a .500 on-base percentage (T-16th in the LSC)
• Kingsville as a squad ranks second in the conference in walks, having drawn 117 on the season, and has stolen the fourth-most bases (41)
• Fresh off of a three-homer doubleheader against UT-Dallas last Friday, the team ranks sixth in the LSC in jacks with 19. 
• Defensively, the pitching staff allowed just nine home runs this year, tied for the fewest in the LSC