Javelinas and RiverHawks Split a Pair

(03/29/09)


Clifton Thomas celebrates another home run  KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville and Northeastern State baseball teams played a pair of lopsided games on Sunday with each team picking up one win.  The RiverHawks (12-23-1, 7-20-1) won the first game 13-6 while the Javelinas (14-21, 10-18) won the second game 18-8 in seven innings.  (Game 1, Game 2)
 
The RiverHawks hit early and hit often in the first game as they cruised to the easy victory.  A six run fourth inning put the game out of reach and they failed to score in just one inning during the game.

 The Hawks pounded out nine doubles in the game and Joel Eusebio added a home run for good measure.  Every player in the lineup had at least one hit in the game.  Eric McKinney and Blake Neighbors each had three hits to lead the team.  McKinney had two doubles, three RBI’s and two runs scored while Neighbors had a double, scored once and drove in one run.  Taylor Clark and Matt Huggard each had two doubles and drove in two runs.

 NSU starting pitcher Jacob Lago threw 128 pitches to earn the complete game victory.  He allowed six hits, three earned runs and three walks while striking out eight in 7.0 innings of work.

 The Javelinas scored five runs in the first three innings, but the bats went silent over the final four innings of the game.  A.J. Hecker (Orange/Bridge City HS) had the biggest hit of the game for the Hoggies as he belted a two-run homer in the third inning.  It was his fourth home run of the season.  Brandon Rohr (Anaheim, CA/Orange Lutheran HS) drove in two runs, Thomas Miller (Las Vegas, NV/Sierra Vista HS) had two hits, including a double and Robert Cox (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) went 1-for-2 with two runs, a double and an RBI.

 Ryan Torres (Porter/Kingwood HS) was tagged with the loss after pitching 1.0 inning of relief and allowing three runs.

 The RiverHawks started the second game like the first game.  They scored four runs in the first inning and Eric McKinney had the big hit knocking in a run with a double.

 The Hoggies batted around for the first time in the game during the second inning.  Philip Johnson (Malibu, CA/Malibu HS) drove in the first run with a double.  The inning culminated with Robert Cox’s (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) two-run double that was followed up by Clifton Thomas’ (San Diego, CA/El Cajon Valley HS) two-run single to make it 6-4 Javelinas.

 The Javs added two more runs in the third inning when Erik Gomez (El Paso/Socorro HS) and Cox each walked with the bases loaded to force in two more runs.

 In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Javelinas batted around for the second time in the game as they sent 13 players to the plate.  The inning started with two outs, but then the team strung together four straight singles bringing in two runs.  After a walk loaded the bases, Thomas crushed a grand slam for his sixth home run of the season.  The Javs loaded the bases again and Adrian Williams (Victoria/Memorial HS) drove in two runs with his second single of the inning.

 The RiverHawks added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to make it a 16-8 ballgame.  In the bottom half of the inning, the Javs added two runs and loaded the bases with no outs before the next three batters got out.

 The Javelinas pounded out a season high 19 hits.  Thomas went 2-for-4 with six RBI’s while Williams went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI’s.  Cox went 1-for-2 with two runs, two walks, a double and three RBI’s.  Thomas Miller went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.  Johnson, Hecker and Rohr each had two hits in the game and every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit.

 Freshman Chris Brown (Humble/Nimitz HS) picked up the victory on the mound.  He went 5.2 innings to earn his third win.  Trey Mattox (Yorktown/St. Paul HS) closed out the game by pitching a perfect 1.1 innings while striking out two batters.

 The RiverHawks had 12 hits in the game.  Eusebio went 2-for-3 with two RBI’s with a run scored to lead the team.  Tyler Patterson started the game, but lasted just 2.1 innings and was handed the loss.

 The Javelinas travel to St. Mary’s on Tuesday for a 5 o’clock game.
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