The Texas A&M-Kingsville baseball team split on Championship Sunday with Colorado Mesa University at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Baseball Tournament to end their season with a record of 38-20.

The Javelinas won the first game by a score of 9-8 to force the if-necessary game against the Mavericks. Colorado Mesa (44-11) would withstand Kingsville late game rally in the top of the ninth inning to win the South Central Regional Championship, 7-6.

In game one, the bottom of the first inning brought five Javelinas across the plate. The first run came in when Taylor Taska singled up the middle and drove in Derrick Walls, 1-0. Walls walked to reach first base and advanced to third base when Matt Perez singled through the left side. Brian Frazier singled to left field and drove in Perez, 2-0. Perez singled to reach first base and advanced to second base when Taska singled. Justin Lee hit a 3-run homer over the left field wall and drove in Frazier and Taska, 5-0.

The Mavericks caught up with the Hoggies in the top of the fourth inning when they scored four runs. Kevin Mitchell drove in Nate Robertson with a single up the middle, 5-1. Robertson singled through the left side to reach first base, advanced to second when Jordan Liester singled, and advanced to third base when Derrick Garcia singled to left field. The next two Colorado Mesa runs came when Austin Wallingford drove in Liester and Garcia, 5-3. Liester singled to reach first base, advanced to second base when Garcia singled to left field and advanced to third base when Mitchell singled. Garcia singled to reach first base and advanced to second base as Mitchell singled up the middle. The fourth run was scored when Sergio Valenzuela singled through the right side and drove in Mitchell, 5-4. Mitchell singled to reach first base and advanced to third base when Wallingford singled to left center.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kingsville posted one run when Walls came across home plate after Perez doubled to left center field, 6-4. Walls doubled down the left field line to get on base.

The Mavericks scored four runs, three in the top of the sixth inning and one in the top of the seventh inning. Garrett Woodard doubled to right center field and drove in Garcia, 6-5. Garcia singled to center field to get on base. Woodard was driven in by when Wallingford tripled, 6-6.  The third run came in as Valenzuela hit a sacrifice bunt but reached on a fielder's choice and drove in Wallingford, 7-6. In the top of the seventh inning, Garcia hit a sacrifice fly into left center field and drove in Austin Kaiser, 8-6. Kaiser singled up the middle to reach first base, advanced to second base when Robertson hit a sacrifice bunt, and advanced to third base when Liester grounded out to third base.

The Hoggies came from behind and scored three runs. One of the runs came in the bottom of the seventh inning when Walls was driven in by Perez, 8-7. Walls doubled to get one base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The last two runs for Kingsville were scored in the bottom of the eighth inning. Justin Duran scored when Justin Lee singled up the middle, 8-8. Duran pinch ran for Ryan Guedry after he was walked and advanced to second when James Black grounded out to the pitcher. Lee was driven in by Walls when he singled to left field, 9-8. Lee singled to reach first base and advanced to second base when Clint Wallace was hit by a pitch.

Denver Diefenbach (10-4) picked up the win for the Javelinas. He pitched one inning with no runs with none earned on no hits. Ryan Scott earned his 14th save with an inning pitched with no runs with none earned on no hits.

Ryan Reno (3-2) suffered the loss for Colorado Mesa with 7.1 innings pitched for nine runs with nine earned on nine hits.

With Kingsville winning Game 1, the team forced a second game against the Mavericks to try for a chance to win the regional title.

Kingsville struck first in the top of the first inning when Walls scored after Taska grounded out to second base, 1-0. Walls walked to reach first and stole second.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Mavericks scored two runs to take the lead. Valenzuela scored when Robertson singled to center field and advanced to second on a fielding error, 1-1. Valenzuela walked to reach first base and advanced to second when Garrett Carpenter hit a sacrifice bunt to third base. Liester singled to right field and drove in Robertson, 2-1. Robertson singled to left center field to get on base.
The Javelinas answered back with two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Miles Holcomb hit a home run over the left center wall and drove in James Black, 3-2. Black singled up the middle to get on base.

Colorado Mesa tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Valenzuela was driven in by Kaiser, 3-3. Valenzuela doubled to left center to reach second base and advanced to third base on an error. The Mavericks would take control of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning and score three runs. The first run came in when Woodward scored on a wild pitch, 4-3. Woodward singled to reach first base and advanced to third when Kevan Elcock doubled down the left field line. Wallingford hit a home run down the left field line to drive in Elcock, 6-3.

In the top of the eighth inning, Frazier hit a home run over the left field wall to score a run for the Hoggies, 6-4.

Elcock answered back for the Mavericks with a home run of his own to put the score at 7-4.

Kingsville made a late rally in the top of the ninth inning when they scored two runs. The first run came in when Lee singled to right center and drove in Holcomb, 7-5. Holcomb doubled to right center to get on base. Lee came across home plate when the Javelinas had the bases loaded and Perez was walked, 7-6. Lee singled to reach first base, advanced to second when Clint Wallace singled through the left side, and advanced to third base when Walls hit a bunt single.

Matt Delay (9-2) earned the win for the Mavericks with 8.1 innings pitched for six runs with six earned on 12 hits. Matt Allen picked up the save for Colorado Mesa with .2 innings pitched with no runs with none earned on no hits.

Diefenbach (10-5) suffered the loss for the Hoggies. He put in 2/3 innings of work with three runs with three earned on five hits.

The Javelinas end their season as runners-up in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Baseball Tournament. Colorado Mesa moves on to represent the region in the NCAA Division II Championship in Cary, N.C. from May 24-31. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
C - Austin Wallingford, Colorado Mesa
1B - Taylor Taska, Texas A&M-Kingsville
2B - Derrick Garcia, Colorado Mesa
3B - Alvaro Moreno, Tarleton State
SS - Derrick Walls, Texas A&M-Kingsville
OF - Austin Kaiser, Colorado Mesa
OF - Tyler McKnight, West Texas A&M
OF - Brian Frazier, Texas A&M-Kingsville
UT - Matt Redfearn, West Texas A&M
P - Dylan James, West Texas A&M
P - Matt Delay, Colorado Mesa
MVP - Derrick Garcia, Colorado Mesa