Kingsville — Texas A&M-Kingsville edged West Texas A&M 3-2 Friday night at Nolan Ryan Field behind a dominant pitching performance and timely hitting to open the series.

The Javelinas (23-24, 23-24 LSC) kept it close throughout, leaning on their pitching staff to rack up 10 strikeouts while holding off the Buffs just enough to come away with the victory.

TAMUK struck first in the third inning, as Nick Reyes singled to shallow center to score Travis Vlasek and Jayden Martinez followed by reaching on a fielder's choice to plate Reyes, giving the Javelinas a 2-0 lead.

West Texas A&M answered in the sixth, as a two-run double to left center tied the game at 2-2. The Javelinas would not stay even for long, however, as Cade Minus came through with a clutch ground out to short that scored Landon Salinas to reclaim the lead at 3-2.

From there, the pitching staff took over. Brian Buchanan dealt 5.1 strong innings to earn the win and improve to 2-4. Garrett Nail kept the Buffs off the board with 1.2 innings before Tyler Schumann slammed the door with two perfect innings to earn his fourth save of the season. The trio combined for 10 punchouts on the night.

A doubleheader between the Javelinas and Buffs is set for Saturday at Nolan Ryan Field with first pitch at 2:00 p.m. and the second game to follow at 5:00 p.m. Fans of the Javelinas can watch the game on FloCollege or follow the action at JavelinaBSB on X.