Jags sweep Wayland Baptist, start the season 4-0 for first time since 2008

UHV senior Hayden Leopold has played a lot of baseball for the Jaguars.

The infielder from Columbus, Texas, noticed the culture change within the team dating back to last season's postseason run under then-first-year head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. He wanted it to keep building into his last season on the team.

On Sunday, the Jaguars won both games of a doubleheader with Wayland Baptist, 14-7 and 7-3, to sweep the series and improve to 4-0.

"The biggest change I've seen, especially yesterday when we weren't swinging the bats well, was everybody keeping a level head," Leopold said. "Nobody got too down on themselves. Even if they did, it was for five seconds, and we moved on. That's really what I like to see."

The series sweep marked the first time the Jaguars have started a season 4-0 since 2008, the program's first year.

"Wayland Baptist has a really good baseball team," Stavinoha said. "I think we compete with anyone if we play our game. The bats came alive. We were able to steal some bags and move some guys over, and put pressure on the defense to make things happen. Really, that's JagBall right there."

UHV slashed 13 hits in Sunday's 14-7 win in Game 1.

Five of those 14 runs came in the first inning after the Pioneers (0-4) plated two runs to open the game. The Jaguars used four hits to score Leopold, Jean Michael Gonzales, Juan Martin, Langston White and Jose Montanez.

Leopold went 4-for-7 in the series, including 3-for-4 in Game 1, with four runs scored and a pair of doubles. Fellow senior Raul Lopez was 3-for-7 with four RBIs – two in each game – during Sunday's twinbill.

UHV won both games on Saturday to open the season with three hits between the two games.

"I think it's just getting the timing down," Leopold said, "getting used to being back at Riverside in an actual game and knocking the dust off. For me, I went back and watched some videos and noticed something with my load. I made a simple fix in batting practice today and it worked out for me."

Senior right-hander Julian Garcia earned the win in Game 1 after throwing five innings in which he allowed two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. Freshman Ryan Rodriguez and senior Carson McKenna came on in relief to seal the win.

Freshman Jacob Baker earned the win in his collegiate debut after throwing five scoreless innings, surrendering only four hits and four walks. Justin Mireles and Samuel Ibarra Jr. came on in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to lock up the series sweep.

"Three freshmen got their first-ever appearances on the mound at the collegiate level this weekend," Stavinoha said. "We expect big things. The comfortability of them to step in and perform at a high level right away just tells us their futures are bright."

The Jaguars will return to Riverside Stadium for a four-game series against Mid-American Christian University starting with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday.