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Box Score 2
SAN ANTONIO — These are the kinds of days the St. Mary's Rattlers have come to expect with their two All-Americans on the mound.
Carl O'Neal threw a seven-inning one-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State to record his 21st consecutive win, while
Rene Solis threw a one-hitter in eight innings of action in a 6-0 win over the Aggies on Friday at Wolff Stadium.
O'Neal's 21st straight win tied the Division II record documented by the NCAA, though there was a 24-game win streak by Mount Olive's Carter Capps from 2010-2011 that is not reflected in the NCAA's record book.
The NCAA had Central Missouri's Jason Herz (2001-2002) and South Dakota State's Trevor Schulte (1993-1994) as the existing record holders with 21-game win streaks apiece.
Either way you slice it, O'Neal (Sr., San Antonio) and his No. 11-ranked Rattler teammates are on fire.
O'Neal struck out two and walked three in his shutout win, improving to 4-0 with a 0.34 ERA on the season.
Reminded of the fact that his last loss came in April of 2011, O'Neal smiled, saying “I actually don't remember it.”
Not to be outdone by his fellow All-American, Solis (Jr., San Antonio) struck out six and walked one in eight innings of work against Panhandle State (0-11). The reigning Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week improved to 3-0 with a 0.56 ERA on the year.
Colter Bostick (Jr., Powell, Wyo.) pitched an inning in relief of Solis, striking out two in the ninth.
With the wins, St. Mary's is on a six-game winning streak and improved to 11-3 overall and 9-2 in Heartland Conference play.
Offensively,
Mario Maldonado (So., Laredo, Texas) drove in a pair of runs in Game 2, while
Scott Slusher (Sr., Grapevine, Texas) drove in the lone run in Game 1. The opener also saw a pair of fantastic defensive plays, with Slusher making a gutsy grab while colliding into third baseman
Ivan Sigala (Sr., El Paso, Texas) and
Billy Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) making a sliding grab in center field.
St. Mary's will wrap up its three-game series with OPSU at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
