KINGSVILLE, Texas – The #5 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M battled back to cut the lead to one in the ninth but Texas A&M-Kingsville came away with a 5-4 victory on Saturday afternoon at Nolan Ryan Field to give the Javelinas a 2-1 lead in the series to open Lone Star Conference action.
 
The Buffs and Javelinas finish off their weekend series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Nolan Ryan Field in Kingsville.
 
THE BASICS:
- Score: Texas A&M-Kingsville 5, #5 West Texas A&M 4
- Records: WT (22-5) / TAMUK (18-9)
- Location: Kingsville, Texas
- Venue: Nolan Ryan Field
- Series (Streak): Javelinas lead 78-60 (L2)
 
GAME RECAP:
The Buffs got on the board in the top of the second inning as Kyle Kaufman reached on an error to start the frame followed two hitters later by a Jake Pederson RBI double to the right center field gap to give the Buffs the early 1-0 lead. Kingsville tied the game in the home half of the inning as Steven Bonuz doubled to the warning track in right field with two outs to score Cameron Melcher at 1-1.
 
The Javelinas took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Giancarlo Servin lifted a sac fly to center field with runners on the corners and one out to score Austin De Leon to make it 2-1, the Javelinas added to their lead in the fourth as Bonuz doubled down the right field line with one out to score Melcher at 3-1. 
 
The Hogs weren't done yet as Pablo Hernandez singled to center with two outs in the fifth to drive in Manny Laredo followed by a bases-loaded walk to Seth Spinn in the home half of the fifth with the bases loaded and two outs to make it 5-1. Jaxxon Fagg and Cade Engle drew walks to leadoff the seventh as Kingsville made a move to the bullpen followed by a Justice Nakagawa sac bunt to move the runners up 90 feet, Keone Givens lifted a sac fly to center to score Fagg at 5-2. 
 
The Buffs wouldn't go down without a fight in the ninth as Engle scored on an error with one out to force a call to the pen with two in scoring position, Nick Guaragna grounded out to score Nakagawa followed by an intentional walk to Koelzer to put Buffs on the corners with two outs before a flyout to right ended the game at 5-4.
 
Drew Mesecher picked up the loss (4-2) for the Buffs, allowing four runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts in his 4.2 innings of work.