No. 20 A&M-Victoria baseball gearing up for busy week

The No. 20-ranked Texas A&M University-Victoria baseball team enters an important week with momentum.

Fresh off its first-ever series victory over Louisiana Christian, the Jaguars erupted for 23 runs over the final two games of the set, punctuated by an 11-1 run-rule win on Friday and a 12-8 triumph Saturday at Riverside Stadium.

Garrett Smith's go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning of the finale capped a four-run rally and sealed the landmark series win, pushing A&M-Victoria to 13-8 overall and 4-2 in Red River Athletic Conference play.

With confidence surging, the Jaguars now turn their focus to a midweek non-conference matchup against Our Lady of the Lake before continuing conference play against Texas A&M-Texarkana this weekend.

The Jaguars enter the third week of conference play in second thanks to head-to-head tiebreakers with OLLU and Louisiana Christian, and are two games behind national No. 1-ranked LSU Shreveport.

Back-to-Back

A&M-Victoria's success has been rooted in steady production on the mound.

Blane Zeplin has emerged as one of the league's top arms. The senior right-hander is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 29 innings, ranking among the RRAC leaders in wins and strikeouts. He tied his season high with 10 strikeouts over five innings in last week's run-rule victory over Louisiana Christian, earning his second RRAC Pitcher of the Week honor and the second consecutive RRAC Pitcher of the Week award for the Jaguars after Jacob Baker won it last week.

Baker has been equally dependable, posting a 2-1 record and 2.86 ERA across 34.2 innings. Jonathan Jones (4-2, 3.44 ERA) has added depth at the front of the rotation, posting four wins and 39 strikeouts this season – a mark which ranks second in the league.

Senior Matthew Mejia has collected two wins and two saves, and Andrew Rivera owns a 1.08 ERA in relief.

The Jaguars carry a 4.17 team ERA and have limited opponents to a .240 batting average through 164 innings. In RRAC play, that ERA drops to 3.64.

As a staff, the Jaguars have struck out 150 batters and posted a 1.38 WHIP. When A&M-Victoria wins, its ERA shrinks to 2.69.

Hot bats

The Jaguars have paired their pitching with one of the conference's most consistent offensive attacks. A&M-Victoria is batting .306 as a team with a .423 on-base percentage and .424 slugging percentage, scoring 145 runs in 21 games.

Jaguars have drawn 117 walks, been hit 21 times and stolen 37 bases in 40 attempts. In victories, they are hitting .327 and averaging nearly nine runs per game.

Antonio Benitez leads the team with a .408 average, 31 hits and 15 stolen bases, setting the tone atop the order. The Carolina, Puerto Rico, native has reached base in all 21 games so far this season.

Roberto Olguin (.366) and Connor Kaiser (.379) have delivered consistent production, while freshman Beck Zimmerman is batting .373 with 15 RBIs.

Power has surfaced in key moments. Smith leads the team with four home runs, including Saturday's decisive blast against Louisiana Christian. Ty Boozer is hitting .355 and provided a spark in the doubleheader with his first collegiate home run, while also driving in four runs  last weekend.

The Jaguars showcased their depth in the Louisiana Christian series. Zimmerman recorded four hits in the twinbill, Olguin drove in three runs in the finale and Boozer and Smith combined for pivotal late-game swings. 

Scouting the opponents

The Jaguars have already faced Our Lady of the Lake (12-8, 4-2) this season, going 2-1 on the road with 9-5 and 7-1 victories around a narrow 6-5 loss in conference play. A&M-Victoria is 22-31 all-time against the Saints.

The Jaguars hold an 11-19 all-time mark against the Eagles (11-12, 3-3) but swept last year's series in Victoria.

Follow along

Tuesday's game will be live streamed on the A&M-Victoria Athletics YouTube channel. This weekend's series in Texarkana will be streamed by Texas A&M-Texarkana.

Live stats for all games can be found on the A&M-Victoria Athletics website.