Kingsville - Following a tough, 13-1 loss in game one, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team responded with a come-from-behind, 12-8 upset of the No.13 Oklahoma Christian Eagles in game two, getting the first ranked win in conference play since March of 2024.
The Javelinas batted around twice in the game, once in the fourth inning to erase a six-run deficit and tie the ball game, and again in the sixth to add six more runs, breaking the tie and nabbing a win. In total, the team tallied seven extra-base hits, including three home runs (all in the fourth). Three players had a multi-hit game, and four drove in multiple runs.
"I'm excited for the girls, because we had a tough one game one and sometimes you don't know how they're going to respond," Head Coach
Orlando Salinas said. "So our word was, how are you going to respond? And they responded with a come-from-behind six runs, came out of nowhere."
Game one began as defensive battle, with the two teams trading one run each on each side of the first inning, before the squads combined to pitch four straight scoreless sides. After OC took the lead with a run in the top of the fourth, they then broke the game open, putting up a crooked number in each of the final three innings, including a seven-run seventh to secure the win, the team's tenth in a row.Â
That streak, which had been the Lone Star Conference's longest, looked safe through the first three and a half innings of game two. Kingsville ceded one run to the Eagles in the first, before they exploded for five more in the third, taking a six-run lead.
With their backs to the wall, the Javelinas came alive in a big way. They batted around in the fourth with three long balls, starting with a solo shot from junior first baseman
Dakota Martinez. Two base knocks later, freshman shortstop
Ella Srubar went deep for the first time in her collegiate career, sending a three-run bomb over the left-field wall to pull Kingsville within two. Just two batters later (a walk in between), TAMUK struck again, with freshman Ayla Gonzalez pinch hitting for her first career home run, tying the game.Â
"I'm really happy that our freshmen are growing right in front of our faces, and they had some big hits for us today," Salinas said.
With the contest knotted at six, Kingsville turned back to its game one starter, senior RHP
Andrea Martinez, who got TAMUK its final six outs defensively, giving up three hits and two earned runs (all in the seventh. In the middle of her relief performance, the Javelinas' red-hot offense struck again, dropping another six-spot. This time, it was all small ball, with freshman designated player
Kennia Chong's two-RBI double coming as the only extra-base hit in the frame. Three singles and four walks did the job instead, loading the bases multiple times, including a pair of 'walkathon' RBI BBs. The first such play, a bases-loaded walk of sophomore right fielder
Lainee Ballin, gave TAMUK a lead it would not surrender.
"The whole weekend, starting with the Cameron series, the bats just started coming alive, and we always say hitting is contagious," Salinas said. "And we said, why not have another hit parade? We said that after game one, like, why not? And they got hot again, and it seemed like everyone that we called in to pinch hit did their job."
From there, A. Martinez locked down Kingsville's final three outs, securing the upset win for the Hogs.
"Dre has been a rock star this year, she has stepped up, and now she's doing double-duty, not only starting, but closing," Salinas said. "She did that on Friday night too, I'm super excited for her, it's her senior year, and for her to be that person, it's super impressive."
TAMUK will now head back on the road to take on LSC-newcomers UT-Dallas in a Friday doubleheader that is set for 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
