Javelinas Win Against Chaparrals on a Historic Afternoon

By Sean Allen

KINGSVILLE - The Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelinas (18-9 overall, 16-9 Lone Star Conference) played the #24 Lubbock Christian University Chaparrals (20-7, 18-7 Lone Star Conference) this weekend losing their first three games before closing out the series to take a decisive win of 8-3.

It was also a special day for Javelina Nation, as head baseball coach Jason Gonzales notched his 400th victory in the program.

"It's special having 100 wins at TAMUK," said Gonzales. "I've had some really good assistant coaches here that have really been dedicated to what we're trying to do, but the bottom line is I've had a lot of great players that have trusted me and bought into what we're trying to do, and I just get the opportunity to take credit for a lot of people."

In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore center fielder Matthew Castro was walked with the help of a single. Shortly after, Castro scored a run to light up the scoreboard for the first time in the game.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Javelinas lit up the scoreboard again four more times bringing the lead 5-0 to end the inning.

After replacing senior starting pitcher Ty Stephenson with sophomore relief pitcher Brenden Anderson, the Chaparrals didn't fold and found new life in the seventh inning as they scored two runs of their own.

After an early run in the eighth, sophomore pinch hitter Jessie Gonzalez found himself on the mat and proceeded to help put the game out of reach for the Javelinas to bring two runners’ home.

Chaparral's senior pinch hitter Cayde Ward scored in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough to break the deficit.

Senior Brandon Symmank got the win (4-1) playing in 7 innings while striking out 11 batters and allowing 4 hits.

"Brandon Symmank was our starting pitcher and he did a tremendous job," Gonzales said. "He was able to hold a really good team down long enough for our hitters to kind of figure it out. We then got some big hits with runners in scoring position and that's what we didn't have in our first few games, so it was good to see those guys do what they did today."

Lubbock Christian University's Ty Stephenson had his first start resulting in his first loss. He allowed 7 hits and 5 runs before being relieved in the 6th inning.

Sophomore relief pitcher Colton Taylor had his fifth save of the year for the Javelinas which leads the Lone Star Conference.

The Javelinas hitting woes shrunk as they had 12 hits in the game.

Senior right field Kyler Bumstead had 3 hits on the game. Sophomore catcher Nick Wolff and short stop Ivan Duarte had 2 hits apiece.

Chaparrals junior second basemen Caden Hensley had 2 hits to pace his team.

Prior to game four, Coach Gonzales shared some words with the Javelinas before rounding out the series.

"It was big that we were able to come back after three disappointing losses. We told our team that good teams don't get swept and so they had to find a way off the mat, and they did that today. It was a lot of fun to watch."

Up next, the Javelinas will play against some more stiff competition as they'll be traveling to face off against #17 Angelo State (20-5, 18-5 Lone Star Conference) on March 25 at 5 p.m.