Kingsville - The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team was hurt by the long ball in Friday's doubleheader, as the Javelinas lost their doubleheader with the No.6 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs, 11-5 and 11-5, leaving just two home games left for the squad this season.
 The Lady Buffs hit nine homers across the doubleheader, powering the team past TAMUK, who moves to 28-16 overall and 23-11 in Lone Star Conference play with six games left to play in the regular season.Â
Game Summaries
Game one began as a battle of the bombs, with the game's first seven runs (three from Kingsville, four from WT), scored off of home runs. All three such runs for TAMUK came off the bat of freshman OF
Kennia Chong, who went yard in the bottom of the second to tie the game at three a piece. A few innings later, another Javelina freshman, SS
Ella Srubar, went deep. She sent a solo shot over the left field wall to pull Kingsville within one. That run, however, was the last of the game scored by the home team, as WT scratched five unanswered runs to close the game.
Senior RHP
Andrea Martinez (L, 12-7), started the game and pitched 6.1, giving up 11 runs. Redshirt junior RHP
Rylee Yarborough finished the game, getting the last two outs for the home team.
The majority of game two was a dogfight between the two squads, with Kingsville fighting back all contest after the first two West Texas batters of the matchup went yard. After TAMUK got a run back in the second, and WT tacked on two more in the top of the third, the Javelinas responded in a big way in the bottom of the frame. The rallied to the tune of a three-run inning: RBI singles from both sophomore 3B
Alaunah Almaraz and sophomore RF
Lainee Ballin, followed by a play that saw Ballin score the tying run from third on a wild pitch.Â
One inning later, junior pinch-hitter
Audri Castillo battled her way to a full count before going deep over the left field wall to give TAMUK its first lead of the day. They would hold onto that lead, in large part because of the strong relief work of junior RHP Â
Marianna Zumerle (L, 2-3), until the final two frames, in which WT scored a combined seven runs to come back and nab the win.
Up Next
TAMUK will be back on Hubert Field to play the final DH in Kingsville of its season, as the Javelinas take on Eastern New Mexico at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. The team will honor its four graduating seniors 20 minutes before first pitch (12:40 p.m.).
