Kingsville, TX — Texas A&M-Kingsville took Game 1 of the series against Lubbock Christian, 10-4, Friday night at Nolan Ryan Field.
The Javelinas (16-11, 16-11 LSC) jumped out early and never let Lubbock Christian (14-13, 14-13 LSC) take control for long, powered by a dominant pitching performance and a huge night from Isaiah Aguilar at the plate.
LCU wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning, as the Chaparrals hit back-to-back home runs off Brian Buchanan to put TAMUK in an early 2-0 hole. The Javelinas answered right back in the bottom of the first, however, as Landon Salinas doubled to left center to score Joshua Prado, and Nick Reyes followed with an RBI on a fielding error to knot the game at 2-2.
Aguilar gave the Javelinas the lead in the second inning, taking a pitch to left field for a solo home run to make it 3-2. LCU tied it again in the third, but TAMUK responded immediately as Cade Minus singled to center to score Reyes and put the Javelinas back on top 4-3.
After LCU evened it at 4-4 in the fifth, the Javelinas took over and never looked back. Travis Vlasek, who had reached on a triple, scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to make it 5-4. The Javelinas then broke the game open in the seventh, as Braden Duff scored on a throwing error and Landon Salinas came home on a wild pitch to push the lead to 7-4. Aguilar put the finishing touches on the night with a three-run blast in the eighth — his second home run of the game — to make it 10-4.
Aguilar finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI to lead the offensive effort. Salinas and Reyes each went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Vlasek added a triple on the night.
On the mound, Garrett Nail was nothing short of dominant in his six innings of work, striking out 14 batters while allowing just two runs on five hits to earn the win and improve to 4-2 on the season. The Javelinas combined for 19 strikeouts as a staff on the night.
A doubleheader between the Javelinas and Chaparrals is set to begin Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Fans can watch the action on FloCollege or follow along at @JavelinaBSB on X.
