Kingsville - The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is headed north for the final games of its regular season, as the Javelinas prepare for rematches with the No.20 UT-Tyler Patriots (Saturday, 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.), and the Texas Woman's Pioneers (Sunday, 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.).

While it is possible for the Javelinas, who currently sit in the No.5 spot in the Lone Star Conference, to move up to fourth or down to sixth, they will need outside help to do either. 

Regional Ranking

In addition to their fifth-spot in the LSC standings, the Javelinas also hold another significant ranking. The team ranks sixth in the South Central Region in the NCAA's initial Regional Rankings. This positions TAMUK well to potentially extend its postseason as one of the eight teams selected to the South Central Regional tournament when, in just under two weeks, teams are selected to the NCAA Tournament field.

Scouting the Competition: The No.20 UT-Tyler Patriots (38-10, 30-6 LSC)

The Patriots have been playing very solid softball down the stretch of the season, and are primed to make the South Central Regional alongside the Javelinas. They debuted one spot above Kingsville, at No.5, in the NCAA's first Regional Rankings. The team has also moved back up to No.20 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's National Poll (No.23 last week)

These two teams have faced off once before, with UTT getting the better of TAMUK when the squads first met back in February. Including those two games, Tyler has dominated the two programs' recent matchups, winning 12 straight games against the Javelinas.

Scouting the Competition: The Texas Woman's Pioneers (26-24, 20-16 LSC)

The Pioneers enter the weekend riding momentum from a sweep (7-2, 7-1) of LSC-newcomers UT-Dallas on Sunday. Like the Javelinas's matchup against the Patriots, TWU's contests against TAMIU that were originally set for Friday are now going to be played on Saturday, meaning both teams will be playing their third and fourth games in just over 24 hours.

Back in February, Kingsville's home-opening doubleheader came against the Pioneers, with the Javelinas sweeping TWU (3-1, 9-1 (five innings)). Those wins pushed TAMUK's streak to four straight wins over the Pioneers - it has won 12 of its last 17 matchups with the Pioneers.

Javelina Quick Hitters:

• Head Coach Orlando Salinas, who is in his third full season as Kingsville's skipper, made history earlier this season, becoming the fourth Head Coach in program history to reach 100 wins
• Earlier in LSC play, freshman INF Ella Srubar posted a career DH against Sul Ross St., in which she hit three home runs, going 4-for-5 with 6 RBIs and a pair of walks, helping her earn the LSC's Freshman of the Week award - she is the first Javelina in program history to receive the award
• Senior RHP Andrea Martinez has stepped into a starting role for Kingsville and has been excellent, striking out 115 batters, the seventh-most in the LSC
• Earlier in the LSC season, Martinez had perhaps the best stretch of her career: she threw a complete-game win in game one, before entering game two as a relief pitcher and picking up a save… two weekends in a row.
• She is one of two pitchers in the LSC to post a CG win and a save in the same DH, and the only one to have done it three times - She earned an LSC Pitcher of the Week award for one such performance, the first of her career
• In the midst of its historic winning streak, TAMUK upset No.10 Angelo St. with a sweep at home (5-3, 8-2), the team's first sweep of a top-10-ranked opponent since 2022 - the the win streak reached 14 games, all of them in conference play - tied for the fifth-longest in program history
• Kingsville has been posting incredible offensive output this season, including a DH sweep of UT-Dallas in which it put up 30 total runs (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
• Against Cameron and Oklahoma Christian, junior first baseman Dakota Martinez had 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 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
• Not long after, she won the second LSC Hitter of the Week award of her career, when she went 3-5 with a homer and a walk in a doubleheader sweep of No.10 Angelo St., becoming the first Javelina ever to win two LSC HotW awards in the same season
• 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, Kennia Chong, has been coming on strong through LSC play, and now leads the team in batting average at .398 (10th in the LSC), and OPS with 1.161 (12th in the LSC) - she has hit 18 doubles, tied for the third-most in single season in program history
• Another freshman, 2B Victoria Vargas, has had a great start to her collegiate career, hitting .379 (17th in the LSC), scoring 41 runs (T-13th in the LSC), stealing 13 bags (T-10th in the LSC) and walking 24 times (T-17th in the LSC). So far this year, she boasts a .464 on-base percentage (17th in the LSC)
• Kingsville's offense has been cooking - as a squad, its .410 on-base percentage is the fifth-best in the nation. It also ranks fifth in the conference in walks, having drawn 178 on the season, and have stolen the fifth-most bases in the LSC (59)
• In conference play, the team's .325 batting average (4th), .412 on-base percentage (5th), .502 slugging percentage (5th), and 33 home runs (3rd) are all top five in the LSC
• Defensively, the pitching staff has combined to notch five saves this season, tied for the third most in the LSC